Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $310,000 in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Team Hewins LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308 in the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.3 %

FAST opened at $77.90 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $56.41 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS 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 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.