Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 8,889 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Plato Investment Management Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,237 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,889 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,334,000 after buying an additional 193,734 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,179,000 after acquiring an additional 66,130 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company's stock worth $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company's stock worth $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,190,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,506,000 after purchasing an additional 91,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Fastenal Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,595,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,316,257. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $59.47 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The company has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.64 and a 200 day moving average of $69.13.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total transaction of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,667.05. The trade was a 73.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,033 shares of company stock worth $19,240,434. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.