Fastenal Company $FAST Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,870 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,009 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% in the second quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 3.4% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 8,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Fastenal Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $55.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.93. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $56.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.80, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.65.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. 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 company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.87%.

About Fastenal

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.