Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Sold by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. trimmed its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 25.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,359,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,160,739 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for about 5.2% of Provident Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Provident Trust Co.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $166,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% in the second quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.9% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $51.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.19. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $53.30. The company has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.87%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.