CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 203 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,994 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Fastenal by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 116,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 24.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 2,922 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 30,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 80,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,730,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 61.5% during the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $73.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.82. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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.