UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Buys 7,662 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,146 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,662 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $11,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,150,000 after buying an additional 592,583 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,655,000 after purchasing an additional 26,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.83. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released 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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. 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 is 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.