Fastenal Company $FAST Stock: Riverbridge Partners LLC Reduces Holdings

Riverbridge Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,899,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,186 shares during the quarter. Fastenal comprises 2.8% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $94,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Bahl & Gaynor LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC now owns 3,119,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,490,000 after purchasing an additional 26,931 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 98,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,876,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners lifted its stake in Fastenal by 12.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 15.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 746,080.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 343,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,001,000 after acquiring an additional 343,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $51.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.46.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $54.84 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $38.97 and a 12 month high of $54.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

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.