Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 21.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,720 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,673 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $14,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company's stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company's stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sara Bay Financial raised its stake in Fastenal by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company's stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $883,199.20. This trade represents a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.22. 797,307 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,296,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.47 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.43. The firm has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.80.

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.