Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,931 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,756,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.27.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $74.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.83 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.82. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,553,400. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.