Chicago Capital LLC Sells 1,408 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Chicago Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 149,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,408 shares during the quarter. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,928,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,529 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,513,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,800,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,931,000 after acquiring an additional 109,028 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Fastenal by 21.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,617,000 after acquiring an additional 569,118 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 46.2% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,185,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FAST. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.43.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded up $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.89. 3,199,589 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,484,385. The company has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.67. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.28 per share, with a total value of $31,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at $221,480. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal 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.