Amundi Acquires 288,964 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,931,502 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 288,964 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $140,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $873,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on FAST. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

FAST stock opened at $79.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.13. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS 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 yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 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.