B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management Sells 942 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management decreased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,548 shares of the company’s stock after selling 942 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FAST. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.08 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price of $77.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,400. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. 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.