Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Sold by Provident Investment Management Inc.

Provident Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,250 shares during the period. Fastenal makes up 0.6% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,438,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,764,000 after acquiring an additional 869,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 12.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,395,000 after acquiring an additional 183,238 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $51.91 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.74. The firm has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.69. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $38.97 and a 52-week high of $52.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Argus upped their target price on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,875,810. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.