3,993 Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Acquired by Farringdon Capital Ltd.

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,199,150,000 after buying an additional 592,583 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company's stock worth $1,214,002,000 after acquiring an additional 234,713 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $522,558,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $476,640,000 after acquiring an additional 33,718 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair raised Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $1.77 on Thursday, hitting $81.96. The stock had a trading volume of 951,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,082,276. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The business's fifty day moving average is $76.66 and its 200 day moving average is $76.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $47.01 billion, a PE ratio of 40.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 87.56%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company's fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.