Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Caledonia Investments PLC

Caledonia Investments PLC reduced its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 718,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 152,000 shares during the quarter. Fastenal comprises about 6.2% of Caledonia Investments PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Caledonia Investments PLC owned approximately 0.13% of Fastenal worth $51,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 30,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in Fastenal by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after buying an additional 4,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.9 %

FAST opened at $72.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.73 and a 200-day moving average of $72.50. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.33 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Company 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.