GDS Wealth Management Has $466,000 Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

GDS Wealth Management reduced its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Fastenal by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 135,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,383,000 after buying an additional 3,359 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Fastenal by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 110,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,048,000 after buying an additional 4,359 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,253,000 after purchasing an additional 387,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $640,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FAST traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $67.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,646,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,949,781. The company has a market capitalization of $38.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.07. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $52.86 and a 52 week high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

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.