Keel Point LLC Sells 5,548 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Keel Point LLC lowered its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,548 shares during the quarter. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 0.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 45,154,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,637,000 after buying an additional 138,257 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,676,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,259,000 after purchasing an additional 117,040 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,989,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,460 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Fastenal by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,092,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,243,000 after buying an additional 2,492,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,249,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.47% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of FAST stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.81. 492,418 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,164,983. The company has a market cap of $31.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.33. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $43.73 and a 1-year high of $59.43.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 13th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 27th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 26th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 71.07%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 19,564 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.78, for a total transaction of $1,110,843.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,135,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Michael J. Ancius acquired 500 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.53 per share, with a total value of $28,765.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 28,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,850.45. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 19,564 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.78, for a total transaction of $1,110,843.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,135,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fastenal from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Stephens downgraded shares of Fastenal from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, 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, which are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.