Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 874 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,367 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $268,570,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Fastenal by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,092,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492,722 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 47.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,936 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Fastenal by 68.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,563,000 after purchasing an additional 957,091 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $78.17. 550,583 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,909,086. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.09. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $50.30 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.23%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total value of $387,333.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.50.

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.