John Lewis Soderberg Sells 488 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.77. 2,630,325 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,372,163. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $56.41 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.88. The firm has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.33.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $975,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $747,000. Arden Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.