Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 107.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,858 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 56,294 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund's holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company's stock worth $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Fastenal by 499.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,186,000 after buying an additional 110,027 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 210,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,259,000 after buying an additional 11,436 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company's stock worth $26,373,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages recently commented on FAST. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.80.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on FAST
Fastenal Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.56. 1,346,788 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,272,235. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $77.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.31. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.49 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.
Fastenal Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Fastenal's payout ratio is 77.61%.
Insider Activity
In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $465,667.05. This trade represents a 73.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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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