Waldron Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 3,802 Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 131.7% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Fastenal by 184.9% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’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 value of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $68.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $79.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.18. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

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.