Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Invests $227,000 in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 45,154,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,637,000 after buying an additional 138,257 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,830,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,780,000 after acquiring an additional 423,112 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,676,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,259,000 after acquiring an additional 117,040 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,502,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,642,000 after purchasing an additional 41,898 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total transaction of $1,364,255.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,940 shares in the company, valued at $417,285. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.50.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

Fastenal stock opened at $77.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.05. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $72.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.18. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $50.30 and a 1-year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 15.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS 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 is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

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.