Headlands Technologies LLC Takes Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $522,558,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Fastenal by 301.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,478,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $78.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.11. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company’s fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.