Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Bought by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,088 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 226 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 1.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $74.78 on Friday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.84 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.07.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Fastenal Company 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.