Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 63,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after acquiring an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after acquiring an additional 66,130 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,221,000 after acquiring an additional 48,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $83.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.26 and its 200 day moving average is $69.74. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The company has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 accessible through this link. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $465,667.05. This trade represents a 73.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FAST. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

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.