Pathstone Holdings LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 11.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,131 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,997 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 9.7% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,141 shares of the company's stock worth $724,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,145 shares of the company's stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,857 shares of the company's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 412.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,941 shares of the company's stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 27,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.3% in the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 12,113 shares of the company's stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens boosted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America assumed 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.72 on Friday, hitting $83.08. 2,104,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,289,142. The stock has a market cap of $47.60 billion, a PE ratio of 41.01, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.99 and a 200-day moving average of $69.60. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's payout ratio is 77.61%.

Fastenal Company 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.