Legacy Financial Strategies LLC Lowers Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lowered its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 982,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,167,000 after buying an additional 45,970 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth $207,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 121.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 4,494 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $310,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 84.1% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total transaction of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,667.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.90. 2,705,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,365,824. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $56.41 and a 12-month high of $79.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.03.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

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.