Empowered Funds LLC Sells 14,207 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,207 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position 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 worth $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,659,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 117.1% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 749,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,118,000 after acquiring an additional 404,502 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $81.80 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.23 and a 200 day moving average of $69.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The firm has a market cap of $46.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.70, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FAST. Stephens increased their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

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.