Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Grows Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,159 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 693,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,902,000 after buying an additional 187,995 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 129,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,284,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 22,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.54. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.57%.

About Fastenal

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.