Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA trimmed its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $37,659,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after buying an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $83.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.47 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.18.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,667.05. The trade was a 73.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.