Fastenal Company $FAST Stock: Bahl & Gaynor LLC Increases Stake

Bahl & Gaynor LLC raised its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,119,116 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,931 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $154,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 98,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.7% during the third quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 11,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 15.5% during the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,084,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,704,000 after acquiring an additional 145,641 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 746,080.4% during the third quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 343,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 343,197 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.8% during the third quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 8,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $54.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $62.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.66. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $38.97 and a 12-month high of $54.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.46.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies, serving businesses that need products to maintain facilities, support production and complete building projects. Its offerings include fasteners such as screws, nuts and bolts, as well as safety supplies, tools and other maintenance, repair and operations products. In addition to product distribution, Fastenal provides services designed to help customers manage supplies and purchasing. These include inventory management, on-site support and industrial vending solutions that make frequently used items available at customer facilities.