Commerce Bank Decreases Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Commerce Bank trimmed its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,297 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,988 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 440.7% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.10.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ FAST traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $80.22. The company had a trading volume of 4,073,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,092,170. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.82.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 87.56%.

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.