Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 1,158 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,980 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $75.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.24.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. 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. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

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.