Waldron Private Wealth LLC Invests $246,000 in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 45,154,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,637,000 after acquiring an additional 138,257 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,830,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,780,000 after purchasing an additional 423,112 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 0.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,676,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,259,000 after purchasing an additional 117,040 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,092,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,243,000 after buying an additional 2,492,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,502,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,642,000 after buying an additional 41,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. HSBC lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $68.79 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.18. The firm has a market cap of $39.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,682 shares of company stock worth $7,375,853 over the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Company 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.