Choreo LLC Purchases New Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 10,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson bought 3,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,082 shares of company stock valued at $2,584,060 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $68.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.85 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.00. The firm has a market cap of $39.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

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.