Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 74.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,964 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,875,000 after buying an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,198,000 after acquiring an additional 168,830 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 11.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,933,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,153,000 after acquiring an additional 613,254 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $47.12 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.75. The company has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $34.69 and a 1 year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 84.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wolfe Research reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.