Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 303,807 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,497,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 303,807 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $464,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 528.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $83.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a one year low of $58.28 and a one year high of $83.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 41.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,261 shares of company stock worth $13,874,979 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.