Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Position Increased by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 52.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,378 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,053 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,006,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,286,106. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $76.80 and a 200-day moving average of $69.99. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.47 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $48.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

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.