Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Hendershot Investments Inc.

Hendershot Investments Inc. lowered its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 105,181 shares of the company’s stock after selling 732 shares during the period. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its stake in Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $73.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The company has a market cap of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released 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). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455. 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.