Verity & Verity LLC Makes New Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 138,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,937,000 after acquiring an additional 21,413 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,187,000. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 12,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 5,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens upped their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.8 %

FAST opened at $76.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,553,400. This represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,211,126. 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.