National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 64.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 401,312 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 157,520 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $28,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Fastenal Stock Down 0.9 %

FAST stock opened at $81.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.88. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.33 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of 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 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. Insiders sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.80.

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.