PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Raises Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 369,267 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Fastenal worth $26,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Fastenal by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after buying an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,221,000 after purchasing an additional 48,977 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.9% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,190,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,506,000 after purchasing an additional 91,411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $82.44 on Friday. Fastenal has a one year low of $59.47 and a one year high of $84.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.99 and a 200 day moving average of $69.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.01, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group initiated 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 over the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.