KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 188,348 Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 188,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,544,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 54,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,904,000 after acquiring an additional 17,164 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 384,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,616,000 after buying an additional 17,672 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.57%.

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.