Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Acquires 2,905 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,556 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,905 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 1.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.5% during the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,772 shares of company stock valued at $5,365,455 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $73.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.85. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.