Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,608 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,974,000 after purchasing an additional 226,126 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.54. The firm has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

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). The company 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%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

About Fastenal

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.