Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Holdings Boosted by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 333,892 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 159,045 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Fastenal were worth $14,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,141,000 after purchasing an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,743,000 after buying an additional 16,308,254 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,849,000 after buying an additional 4,950,503 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after acquiring an additional 4,513,985 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Fastenal by 107.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,530,339 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.32.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of FAST stock opened at $39.55 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.92. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $35.31 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $495,800. This represents a 11.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.