Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Purchases 4,114 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 97,798 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,114 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter worth $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 528.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $84.10 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $59.47 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.99. The stock has a market cap of $48.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens lifted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

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.