Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Acquired by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 9.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,584 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after acquiring an additional 66,130 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,221,000 after acquiring an additional 48,977 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 valued at $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $200,506,000 after acquiring an additional 91,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $83.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.53 and its 200-day moving average is $69.87. The company 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $59.47 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.