Korea Investment CORP Buys 146,760 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 67.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 364,474 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 146,760 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.06% of Fastenal worth $26,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $101,183,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,836,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.17 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.35 and its 200 day moving average is $75.89. The firm has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FAST. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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.