Capital Planning Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Capital Planning Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. Capital Planning Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,553,400. This represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FAST. 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. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $75.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.27.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.