Joule Financial LLC Buys 223 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Joule Financial LLC lifted its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,191 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This trade represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.08 on Friday. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.92 and a 200-day moving average of $73.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.61%.

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.