Bank of Montreal Can Sells 2,448 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,706,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,448 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $193,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 84.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.9% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 23,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 908,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,967 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Fastenal by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 170,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,142,000 after purchasing an additional 10,915 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at $689,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $83.75 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.87. The company has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.47 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.