Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Bought by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 427,035 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,834 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $21,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised 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 worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased 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 worth $404,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $55.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.71.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.