Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CFO Holden Lewis Sells 30,000 Shares

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total value of $2,295,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,881 shares in the company, valued at $756,094.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.77 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.95. The stock has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G 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 fifty-two week low of $56.41 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FAST. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 497.3% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,099,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,083,000 after buying an additional 2,580,478 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after acquiring an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,659,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

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.