Marshall Wace LLP Invests $31.51 Million in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 438,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,514,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens increased their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $81.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The stock has a market cap of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.29 and its 200-day moving average is $76.64. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.56%.

About Fastenal

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.