3,500 Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Acquired by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 131.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 184.9% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 158.8% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,633,607.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.50.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $77.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $72.29 and its 200 day moving average is $64.18. The company has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $50.30 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 4.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.23%.

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.