Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 8,889 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Plato Investment Management Ltd trimmed its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,889 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $25,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. This represents a 13.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 230,553 shares of company stock valued at $17,269,993. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $82.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.30 and its 200 day moving average is $69.04. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $59.47 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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 yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.