Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Buys 48,804 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 59.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,568 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,804 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc's holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $37,659,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 117.1% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 749,812 shares of the company's stock worth $47,118,000 after buying an additional 404,502 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 230,553 shares of company stock valued at $17,269,993. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $82.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,208,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,319,513. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.04. Fastenal has a one year low of $59.47 and a one year high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 issued 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 1.90%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.