Quest Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 412.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,941 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,322 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $310,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 499.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,186,000 after buying an additional 110,027 shares during the last quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.7% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 210,998 shares of the company's stock worth $13,259,000 after buying an additional 11,436 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,643,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $82.01. 816,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,305,047. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.24. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.47 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.98 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's payout ratio is 77.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed 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. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.80.

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.