Bell Bank Sells 469 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bell Bank lessened its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,846 shares of the company’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $25,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,079 shares of company stock valued at $16,563,600 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FAST. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.1 %

FAST opened at $83.62 on Thursday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $59.47 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.