Invesco LLC Trims Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Invesco LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,002 shares during the period. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% in the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens upped 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. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455 over the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of FAST stock traded down $0.37 on Wednesday, reaching $74.42. 134,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,121,468. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $42.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.67. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

About Fastenal

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.