Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC lowered its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,394 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 116,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,331,000 after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 61.5% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 10.1% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 20.6% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 20,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,452,000 after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.1 %

FAST opened at $73.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.86. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

About Fastenal

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.