Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 35,645 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 696,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,645 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.06% of Fastenal worth $34,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 2.4% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 5,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Harfst & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 63,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 15,964 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total value of $705,449.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,209,500. This represents a 24.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays set a $43.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $52.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.27.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $46.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.85, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 15.35%.The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 29th. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 87.27%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.