Hamilton Capital LLC Buys New Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Hamilton Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.9 %

FAST opened at $81.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.00. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.33 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total transaction of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $465,667.05. This represents a 73.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.80.

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.