National Bank of Canada FI Buys 215,731 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 82.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 478,275 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215,731 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of Fastenal worth $30,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505,936 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,179,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,004 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after buying an additional 957,091 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Fastenal by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,435,000 after buying an additional 711,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,445,000 after buying an additional 568,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total value of $1,364,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,285. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.33.

Fastenal Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $66.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.23. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $52.86 and a 12 month high of $79.04.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 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.