Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 56,235 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 802,404 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,235 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $57,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 528.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FAST. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.98. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.33 and a one year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.