Unigestion Holding SA Makes New $467,000 Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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 an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Down 4.6 %

FAST stock opened at $74.42 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.