Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 45.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,067 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,533 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA's holdings in Fastenal were worth $652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 440.7% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.84 on Wednesday, hitting $80.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,506,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,082,267. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $76.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.82. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 87.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

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.