Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) VP Sells $1,970,441.60 in Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $81.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.24. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.47 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 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 return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after buying an additional 193,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,974,000 after buying an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.