UMB Bank n.a. Acquires 69,558 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 139.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,512 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,558 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $723,000. Joule Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 4,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.27.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $76.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.07. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The company has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,400. This represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 over the last quarter. 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.