Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 121.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,193 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,494 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1.1% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.3% during the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Team Hewins LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% during the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was 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 owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,667.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold a total of 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308 over the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $77.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.93. Fastenal has a one year low of $56.41 and a one year high of $79.04. The firm has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.