Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stake Cut by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp cut its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 125,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 562 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 47.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,344,000 after buying an additional 1,505,936 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 16.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,563,000 after buying an additional 957,091 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 80.0% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,435,000 after buying an additional 711,265 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Fastenal by 9.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,445,000 after buying an additional 568,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,830,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,780,000 after buying an additional 423,112 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total value of $1,364,255.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,285. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,082 shares of company stock worth $2,584,060 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. HSBC raised their price target on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $68.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.01. The firm has a market cap of $39.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $52.85 and a 52-week high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.23%.

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.