Cerity Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 12.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 197,825 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $14,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 84.5% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 23,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.6% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 908,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,046,000 after acquiring an additional 4,967 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Fastenal by 6.8% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 170,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,142,000 after acquiring an additional 10,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at $689,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $83.75 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given 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 yield of 1.86%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, 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 value of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus reissued 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

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.