Baillie Gifford & Co. Buys 1,079 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,702,242 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.47% of Fastenal worth $192,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,334,000 after acquiring an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,794,000 after purchasing an additional 517,172 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Fastenal by 21.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,617,000 after buying an additional 569,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,261 shares of company stock worth $13,874,979. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.33.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $84.35 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.83. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.47 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a market cap of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.