Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,626,193 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,345 shares during the quarter. Fastenal accounts for 2.2% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Fastenal worth $116,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $83.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.26 and a 200 day moving average of $69.76.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, 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 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

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.