Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stake Reduced by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 88,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 84.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 99,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,651,000 after purchasing an additional 16,147 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Fastenal by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 126,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,764,000 after buying an additional 14,493 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 10.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 84,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,520,000 after buying an additional 7,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Stephens raised their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $81.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.47 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.24. The company has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 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.