EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 134.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,706 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,699 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FAST. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $101,183,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $44,836,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of FAST opened at $75.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $43.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC cut 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 Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.