Fastenal Company $FAST Stock: ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stake

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,916,029 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 151,085 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $243,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,105,454,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $859,310,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at $410,919,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $239,279,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth about $230,169,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $51.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.69. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $53.30.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.