Insider Selling: Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CFO Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total value of $2,295,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,094.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $77.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.02. Fastenal has a one year low of $56.41 and a one year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 497.3% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,099,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,083,000 after buying an additional 2,580,478 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth $37,659,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 21.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently 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.