Headlands Technologies LLC Takes $966,000 Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $78.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.11. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FAST shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research upped their price target 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. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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.