Raymond James Trust N.A. Reduces Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Raymond James Trust N.A. reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 90,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,057 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 528.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of FAST opened at $83.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.72. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.47 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Fastenal’s dividend 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.