Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Eads & Heald Wealth Management

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lessened its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 9.4% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 85,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,371,000 after buying an additional 7,323 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 74.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 9,351 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 9,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.2% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 124,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,134 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,211,126. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.17. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.