Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Holdings Increased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 783.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 125,854 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,615 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 497.3% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,099,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580,478 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,659,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 21.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,617,000 after buying an additional 569,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.1 %

FAST stock opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.98. The company has a market cap of $43.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $57.56 and a 12-month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 179,373 shares of company stock worth $13,029,308. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.33.

About Fastenal

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.