Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes $16.65 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 230,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,648,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,095,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $290,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $338,000. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $966,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $74.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

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 for 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%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FAST. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

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.