Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CEO Daniel L. Florness Sells 31,818 Shares

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $82.16 on Friday. Fastenal has a one year low of $59.47 and a one year high of $84.88. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.04. The stock has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.90%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,659,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Fastenal by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

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.