Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by S.A. Mason LLC

S.A. Mason LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 57.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,025 shares during the quarter. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1,789.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after acquiring an additional 507,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 59.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 928,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,305,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,772 shares of company stock valued at $5,365,455. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $73.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $41.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.76.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FAST. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

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.