Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 131,493 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,039 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,399 shares of the company's stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 2,712 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 118,296 shares of the company's stock worth $9,125,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 20,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 18,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 252.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,551 shares of the company's stock worth $7,525,000 after buying an additional 69,904 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,264.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,261 shares of company stock valued at $13,874,979 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $83.19. 1,250,553 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,329,563. The company has a market capitalization of $47.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.00 and a 52-week high of $83.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.48. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. Fastenal'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 company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.33.

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.