Principle Wealth Partners LLC Invests $214,000 in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 3,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,611 shares in the last quarter. Suncoast Equity Management lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 10,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 116,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,353,000 after buying an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 8,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Fastenal by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 868,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,447,000 after acquiring an additional 7,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total transaction of $387,333.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total transaction of $1,364,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,285. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total transaction of $387,333.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,082 shares of company stock worth $2,584,060. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5 %

FAST stock opened at $68.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.37 and a 200-day moving average of $66.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. Fastenal has a one year low of $52.85 and a one year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.23%.

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.