Meeder Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,375 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in Fastenal by 440.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. HSBC downgraded 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. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.98.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.