Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Position Lifted by Curbstone Financial Management Corp

Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 1,789.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,262,000 after acquiring an additional 507,364 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Fastenal by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 928,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.18 and its 200-day moving average is $73.52. The company has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,553,400. This trade represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Company 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.