State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,880 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 528.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,667.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $71.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.98. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $57.56 and a twelve month high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.