Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Purchased by Drive Wealth Management LLC

Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,153 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $2,688,621.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,400. This represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $77.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.