Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 7,016 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,133 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,016 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of FAST opened at $83.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.26 and a 200-day moving average of $69.72.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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