Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,135 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 18,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 7,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $63.28 per share, with a total value of $31,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,480. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, EVP James C. Jansen sold 11,428 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $732,191.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,096.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $63.28 per share, with a total value of $31,640.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at $221,480. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.84. The company had a trading volume of 5,921,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,313,607. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.23%.

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.