Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Position Increased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,676 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,438,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,764,000 after acquiring an additional 869,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter valued at approximately $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 12.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744,193 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,395,000 after acquiring an additional 183,238 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $53.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $53.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.34. The firm has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.20, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.46.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.