2,862 Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Purchased by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $37,659,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.5 %

FAST stock opened at $83.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.18. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Stephens boosted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were 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 three months, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal 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.