Investment House LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Investment House LLC lowered its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,918 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Fastenal by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 900,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,304,000 after buying an additional 31,814 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $13,204,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 178.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 78,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 49,972 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $1,293,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 77.7% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC raised their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson bought 3,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,486.10. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of Fastenal 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,082 shares of company stock valued at $2,584,060. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $68.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,233,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,966,208. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.85 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.23%.

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.