Harvey Investment Co. LLC Decreases Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Harvey Investment Co. LLC lowered its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 547,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the quarter. Fastenal accounts for approximately 4.4% of Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $39,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 497.3% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,099,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,083,000 after buying an additional 2,580,478 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during 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 purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter worth about $37,659,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.2% in the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,667.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was 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 have sold 179,373 shares of company stock worth $13,029,308. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.33.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $56.41 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.56 and a 200-day moving average of $67.99. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. 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.