Choate Investment Advisors Has $254,000 Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,536 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Fastenal were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,183,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,836,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.07 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.41. The company has a market capitalization of $43.62 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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