Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 6,218 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,270 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,218 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Fastenal were worth $14,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 499.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,186,000 after acquiring an additional 110,027 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 29,797 shares of the company's stock worth $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 7,988 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 7.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in Fastenal by 2.7% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 147,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter worth about $155,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,346,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,555,624. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $59.49 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.80.

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.