Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,187 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,413 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company's stock worth $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.27.
Get Our Latest Analysis on FAST
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 in the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Fastenal Stock Performance
Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,826,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,372,262. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $77.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The stock has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Fastenal Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 77.61%.
Fastenal Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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