International Assets Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

International Assets Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 98.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265,829 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $233,000. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 4,566 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 60,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,347,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $71.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Nicholas J. Lundquist sold 22,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.15, for a total value of $1,738,343.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 426,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,865,900. The trade was a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,234 shares of company stock worth $9,272,924 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.