ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Purchases 1,186 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,475 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at $37,659,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Fastenal by 13.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,794,000 after buying an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 117.1% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 749,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,118,000 after acquiring an additional 404,502 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 222,079 shares of company stock valued at $16,563,600 over the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FAST. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Eight investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $83.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.93. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $59.47 and a 12-month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 earned $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.