Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 171,138 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,506 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $12,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FAST. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $71.63 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.66. The company has a market capitalization of $41.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. 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 announced 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. 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 firm earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.40.

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.