Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,025,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86,787 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $73,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 56.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 6,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,038,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.10.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $80.29 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.95, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 87.56%.

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.