Accredited Investors Inc. Has $1.32 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,434 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,577 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 84.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at $336,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 21.6% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,035,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,884,000 after purchasing an additional 184,157 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.4% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 99,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,651,000 after purchasing an additional 16,147 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $81.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.23.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,667.05. The trade was a 73.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,033 shares of company stock worth $19,240,434. 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.