Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Increases Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 363.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,443 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,895 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. This trade represents a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $73.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.82. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $41.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

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

Fastenal 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.