UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,718,200 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 226,126 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $336,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,221,000 after purchasing an additional 48,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $83.56 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.29. The company has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.49 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.