SRN Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

SRN Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 74,605.7% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 26,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 26,112 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $213,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,063,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,786,000 after purchasing an additional 33,025 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total transaction of $1,270,509.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $465,667.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $465,667.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.98. 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 52 week low of $57.01 and a 52 week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.