Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC trimmed its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 25.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 671,732 shares of the company's stock after selling 224,210 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Fastenal worth $47,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.5% in the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens boosted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.80.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.71 on Friday, hitting $81.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,581,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,261,016. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.33 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

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.