Covestor Ltd Has $211,000 Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 65.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,559 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 85,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,069,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Fastenal by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 6,797 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Fastenal by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 239,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,218,000 after buying an additional 36,709 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Fastenal by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after buying an additional 5,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.47% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FAST traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 673,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,250,675. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.32 and its 200-day moving average is $56.81. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $61.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 12th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 6th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 5th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.71.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $1,204,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 282,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,035,155.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 20,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $1,204,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 282,929 shares in the company, valued at $17,035,155.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 17,296 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $1,037,932.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $305,810.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,628 shares of company stock valued at $5,867,257. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, 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, which are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.