Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 17,672 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 384,029 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,672 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $27,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 37,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after purchasing an additional 10,937 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,757,000. PDS Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $764,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.73 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.52. The company has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. On average, 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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.