Diversified Investment Strategies LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Diversified Investment Strategies LLC reduced its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,895 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for about 3.7% of Diversified Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Diversified Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 74.0% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 9,351 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 333,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,956,000 after buying an additional 29,708 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 397,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,951,000 after buying an additional 4,410 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 138,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,722,000 after buying an additional 13,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth $106,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.1 %

Fastenal stock opened at $74.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.67.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 63,772 shares of company stock valued at $5,365,455. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.