Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Sold by Fenimore Asset Management Inc

Fenimore Asset Management Inc trimmed its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,124,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,509 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for approximately 3.4% of Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $154,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 69.6% in the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 748 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 123.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.50.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $50.49. 6,770,604 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,797,831. The company has a market capitalization of $57.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 4.18. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $52.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.23.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.Fastenal’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 88.14%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies serving businesses, contractors, manufacturers and other organizations. Its product offerings include fasteners such as bolts, nuts and screws, as well as safety equipment, tools, cutting tools, material-handling products, electrical and plumbing supplies, and maintenance and repair items.

The company sells products through a network of branch locations, onsite customer facilities, industrial vending machines and digital platforms.