Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Sells 191 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. cut its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 131.7% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 184.9% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 158.8% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total value of $387,333.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,682 shares of company stock worth $7,375,853 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.50.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $77.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,121,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,933,467. The company has a current ratio of 4.57, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.09. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a one year low of $50.30 and a one year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 15.72%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

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.