145,641 Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Acquired by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,084,272 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 145,641 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned 0.09% of Fastenal worth $53,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,438,968 shares of the company's stock worth $2,710,764,000 after purchasing an additional 869,793 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth about $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Fastenal by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $755,969,000 after buying an additional 1,744,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,395,000 after buying an additional 183,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 3.0%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $54.57 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $50.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.48. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $38.97 and a twelve month high of $54.99. 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 market capitalization of $62.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.91, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 83.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Argus lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Seven 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.46.

About Fastenal

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