Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 85,521 Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 382,753 shares of the company's stock after selling 85,521 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for 1.4% of Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Dearborn Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Fastenal worth $29,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 5,330.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 5,661.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Fastenal by 156.4% during the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 800 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $768,861.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,987,750. This represents a 27.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,116 shares of company stock worth $3,069,670 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.41. 5,809,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,651,881. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $32.04 and a 12 month high of $48.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.64.

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.