Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Buys Shares of 3,601 Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,344,000 after buying an additional 1,505,936 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 16.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after buying an additional 957,091 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 80.0% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,435,000 after buying an additional 711,265 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 9.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,445,000 after buying an additional 568,372 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,830,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,780,000 after buying an additional 423,112 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total transaction of $387,333.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,082 shares of company stock valued at $2,584,060. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $67.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $38.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $79.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Company 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.