Graypoint LLC Purchases 1,030 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Graypoint LLC raised its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,472 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 64,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.00.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $70.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $40.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $50.30 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The company’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 firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total value of $387,333.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total value of $387,333.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.