LPL Financial LLC Has $25.71 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 357,489 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,959 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Fastenal worth $25,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $481,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $13,544,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 54,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,904,000 after buying an additional 17,164 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target 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. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $76.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced 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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

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.