Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 55,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,975,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 88,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,157 shares of the company's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 270,482 shares of the company's stock worth $19,450,000 after purchasing an additional 13,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 21,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,572,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.10.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded up $1.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.44. 2,965,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,088,251. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. 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 50-day moving average price of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.82. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal's payout ratio is 87.56%.

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.