Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,681,223 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78,186 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $132,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 869,793 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,744,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,395,000 after buying an additional 183,238 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.46.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $52.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.69. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $38.97 and a twelve month high of $53.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.24.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

About Fastenal

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.