Sigma Planning Corp Lowers Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 20.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at $988,000. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of FAST opened at $83.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given 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 yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FAST. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note 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, Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,667.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 222,079 shares of company stock valued at $16,563,600. Corporate 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.