Palisade Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Palisade Asset Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,671 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $4,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Fastenal by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after acquiring an additional 193,734 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,469,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,221,000 after purchasing an additional 48,977 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total transaction of $1,270,509.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $465,667.05. The trade was a 73.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $83.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.47 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.26 and its 200 day moving average is $69.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.