Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $3.08 Million Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,053 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,158 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $747,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $1,282,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $2,936,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 98.6% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,126,000 after buying an additional 58,726 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.43.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $71.38 on Friday. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.52. The stock has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

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.