Avanza Fonder AB Purchases 87,330 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Avanza Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 206,193 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,330 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 5,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. L2 Asset Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 5,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% during the third quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 71.6% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $52.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 36,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $1,747,792.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,893,600. This trade represents a 48.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Satterlee sold 15,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total transaction of $705,449.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,209,500. This represents a 24.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $44.45 on Tuesday. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 4.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.89.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 29th. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.27%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.