Daniel L. Florness Sells 31,818 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $83.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.93. Fastenal has a one year low of $59.47 and a one year high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens increased their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 205.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 18,281 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth $223,000. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at about $344,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 8.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,718,000 after buying an additional 3,759 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 7.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 501,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,733,000 after buying an additional 35,708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.