Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $7.29 Million Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,774 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.5% in the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sara Bay Financial increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.3% in the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $81.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $59.47 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.51.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.