Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,720 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,673 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $14,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 193,734 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,794,000 after purchasing an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.9% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,190,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,506,000 after buying an additional 91,411 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. 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 target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens upped 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of FAST opened at $81.59 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.43. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $59.47 and a 12-month high of $84.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $46.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

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.