MetLife Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,220 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $12,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Fastenal by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,221,000 after purchasing an additional 48,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $83.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.08. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $59.47 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.96 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total transaction of $2,295,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,094.12. This represents a 75.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Company 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.