Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Grows Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 149.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,147 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,616 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,199,150,000 after purchasing an additional 592,583 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,002,000 after acquiring an additional 234,713 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $522,558,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Fastenal by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,640,000 after purchasing an additional 33,718 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $80.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.95, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Fastenal 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.