Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,011,037 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 47,641 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $72,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $101,183,000. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,836,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $76.17 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

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.