Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 720,406 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,124 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $51,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 5.8% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.1% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.3% during the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% during the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Team Hewins LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 4.8% during the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens upped their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.90. 2,705,883 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,365,824. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Fastenal has a one year low of $56.41 and a one year high of $79.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Fastenal 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.