Marshall Wace LLP Buys 737,833 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 4,008.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 756,241 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 737,833 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.13% of Fastenal worth $47,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 6,684 shares of the company's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,651 shares of the company's stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 78,825 shares of the company's stock worth $5,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the company's stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 15,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.3 %

Fastenal stock traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $71.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,657,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,392,962. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.37. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $53.94 and a 12 month high of $79.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.43.

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.