Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Sold by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 956 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $496,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,829,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,393,000 after buying an additional 51,534 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 216.5% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 26,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after buying an additional 18,361 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens lifted their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.36.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $49.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. The firm has a market cap of $57.27 billion, a PE ratio of 47.98, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.95. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $49.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.83 and a 200 day moving average of $41.08.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.