Allstate Corp Invests $1.21 Million in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 16,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,150,000 after purchasing an additional 592,583 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $522,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap 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 has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.98.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.