Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 520,729 Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 75.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,221 shares of the company's stock after selling 520,729 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $13,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5,330.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5,661.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $768,861.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,987,750. The trade was a 27.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,116 shares of company stock valued at $3,069,670. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 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 sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.64.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of FAST stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,507,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,903,187. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $42.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.88. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $32.04 and a 52 week high of $48.10. 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 company has a market cap of $54.80 billion, a PE ratio of 45.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

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.