GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 245 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 22.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 824 shares of the company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at approximately $310,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in Fastenal by 98.6% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,126,000 after buying an additional 58,726 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 205.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after buying an additional 18,281 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Fastenal by 499.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,186,000 after buying an additional 110,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Fastenal by 7.2% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,371,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,316,000 after buying an additional 91,754 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.98. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $57.56 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The company has a market cap of $43.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.