Swiss National Bank Purchases 4,200 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,699,400 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Fastenal worth $121,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 13.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $81.80 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $59.47 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

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.