Sava Infond d.o.o. Makes New $266,000 Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in Fastenal by 440.7% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $77.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.83. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

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.