Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 11,907 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 476,208 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,907 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of Fastenal worth $34,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.77. 1,273,631 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,310,302. The company has a market cap of $46.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.13.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.91%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.