Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Sells 8,241 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC reduced its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,791 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,241 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company's stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company's stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% during the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company's stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1.1% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company's stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.85. The stock had a trading volume of 2,595,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,821,170. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.47 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's fifty day moving average is $74.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $465,667.05. This trade represents a 73.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,033 shares of company stock worth $19,240,434 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.41% 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.