Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Buys 20,438 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,506 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,438 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $16,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Fastenal by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Fastenal by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after purchasing an additional 517,172 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Fastenal by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,261 shares of company stock valued at $13,874,979 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $78.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $58.23 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.94 and a 200-day moving average of $68.24. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.33.

Fastenal 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.