Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Buys 143 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $747,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in Fastenal by 98.6% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,126,000 after purchasing an additional 58,726 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 18,281 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Fastenal by 499.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,186,000 after purchasing an additional 110,027 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Fastenal by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,371,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,316,000 after purchasing an additional 91,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of FAST opened at $76.91 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $56.41 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.88. The stock has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

About Fastenal

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.