Meridian Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 4,826 Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter worth $37,659,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted 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 purchasing an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $83.08 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.76. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FAST. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

About Fastenal

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.