Meeder Asset Management Inc. Sells 48,422 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 64.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,155 shares of the company's stock after selling 48,422 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company's stock worth $371,334,000 after buying an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company's stock worth $293,179,000 after acquiring an additional 66,130 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,221,000 after acquiring an additional 48,977 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,190,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,506,000 after purchasing an additional 91,411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens upped their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,009,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,307,879. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $59.47 and a 12-month 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. The business's 50-day moving average is $75.49 and its 200 day moving average is $69.43. The stock has a market cap of $46.74 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 13.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.