Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Has $724,000 Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,070 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after acquiring an additional 507,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 59.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 928,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FAST. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $73.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.44 and its 200-day moving average is $73.94.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.