True North Advisors LLC Purchases 42,925 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 129.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,125 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,925 shares during the period. Fastenal comprises 1.3% of True North Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after buying an additional 507,364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $75.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.26. The stock has a market cap of $43.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.