Joule Financial LLC Has $301,000 Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Joule Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,191 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 51.0% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $76.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.92 and its 200 day moving average is $73.00. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,553,400. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,211,126 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.