CWS Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 1,664 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,283 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,664 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. HSBC cut 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $74.78 on Tuesday. 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 has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.15 and its 200 day moving average is $74.49.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.