First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,782 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 997 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 497.3% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,099,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,083,000 after buying an additional 2,580,478 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,659,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,261 shares of company stock worth $13,874,979. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $78.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.18. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $58.04 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens raised 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. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Fastenal 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.