Procyon Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,050 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 5,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 7.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 9,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 10,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.8 %

FAST opened at $76.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,553,400. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.