First Financial Bank Trust Division Has $1.77 Million Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised 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 valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 5.8% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 4.5% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on FAST shares. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Stephens lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.11. 2,121,800 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,228,517. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.32 and a 200 day moving average of $72.25. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.33 and a one year high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.