Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Purchased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,676 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Fastenal Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $53.21 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $38.97 and a one year high of $53.86. The company has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a PE ratio of 42.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. DA Davidson set a $51.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.46.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.