Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,011 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson bought 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,049 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $67.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.54 and a 200-day moving average of $66.63. The firm has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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