ING Groep NV Makes New $1.16 Million Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.5 %

Fastenal stock opened at $74.78 on Monday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.43. 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 capitalization of $42.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.