Fastenal Company $FAST Stock: Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stake

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 427,035 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,834 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $21,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,105,454,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,417,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,395,000 after acquiring an additional 183,238 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 12.4% in the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 874,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,021,000 after acquiring an additional 96,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,347,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,983,000 after acquiring an additional 50,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $55.19 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $63.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.66. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $38.97 and a 12 month high of $56.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.26 and a 200-day moving average of $47.71.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Argus increased their price objective on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. DA Davidson set a $51.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.46.

Fastenal 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.