Synovus Financial Corp Grows Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 83.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,319 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,307 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company's stock worth $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 31,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,285,000 after buying an additional 9,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% during 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 buying an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal 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 value of $1,270,509.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $465,667.05. The trade was a 73.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock worth $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Fastenal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.40.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $78.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,450,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,235,729. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.33 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $79.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.37.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.61%.

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.