Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Position Trimmed by Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,582 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,461 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $13,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company's stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Fastenal by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company's stock worth $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $336,974,000 after purchasing an additional 226,126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FAST. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Fastenal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,400. This represents a 35.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,211,126. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.08. The stock had a trading volume of 7,826,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,372,262. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88. 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 market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.