Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,731 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $82.44 on Friday. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.47 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.60. The firm has a market cap of $47.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Fastenal Company 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.