Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases New Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 28,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,038,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. State Street Corp increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock worth $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company's stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Fastenal by 19.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 3.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total transaction of $2,295,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,094.12. The trade was a 75.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following 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 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,289 shares of company stock worth $12,639,438 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.57 on Friday, hitting $78.47. The stock had a trading volume of 2,387,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,238,986. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.47 and a 200 day moving average of $71.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.33 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on FAST. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.40.

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.