Janus Henderson Group PLC Grows Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 73,609 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.98. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.33 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.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors 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 yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.