Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 3,272 Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in Fastenal by 77.7% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total value of $1,364,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,940 shares in the company, valued at $417,285. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total value of $1,364,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,940 shares in the company, valued at $417,285. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,050 shares of company stock worth $3,411,049. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.67.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.1 %

FAST stock opened at $67.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.54 and a 200-day moving average of $66.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

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.