375 Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Purchased by Knuff & Co LLC

Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 11.1% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 110,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,866,000 after buying an additional 10,997 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 412.8% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 27,322 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $81.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. Fastenal has a one year low of $59.47 and a one year high of $84.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.33.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,033 shares of company stock worth $19,240,434 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

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.