US Bancorp DE Cuts Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 820,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,424 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.07% of Fastenal worth $32,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its stake in Fastenal by 414.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 36,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $1,747,792.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,893,600. The trade was a 48.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $44.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.56. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.34.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 15.39%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

About Fastenal

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.