Alethea Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Alethea Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000. Fastenal accounts for 0.3% of Alethea Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,659,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Fastenal by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after acquiring an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $83.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.31. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.49 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

About Fastenal

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.