4,000 Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Acquired by West Tower Group LLC

West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $83.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.99. 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 50-day moving average of $76.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.87. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.47 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s 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.