Verity & Verity LLC Makes New Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock worth $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company's stock worth $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Fastenal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.08. The stock had a trading volume of 7,826,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,372,262. The company has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. 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 has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The business 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

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