Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Petredis Investment Advisors LLC

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,998 shares during the quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 4,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $496,000. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 76,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,474,000 after acquiring an additional 42,925 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal 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. Insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $75.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The company has a market capitalization of $43.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.29. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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.