Sanctuary Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,119 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,895 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 528.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $78.47 on Friday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.33 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.47 and its 200-day moving average is $71.33. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 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.