Perennial Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Perennial Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,550 shares of the company’s stock after selling 850 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 101,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,588,000 after acquiring an additional 5,509 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 900,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,304,000 after acquiring an additional 31,814 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $1,282,000. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $13,204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Jansen sold 11,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $732,191.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,096.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, HSBC upped 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $65.12. 2,771,382 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,769,735. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.50. The firm has a market cap of $37.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $53.83 and a 1-year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 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.