First Trust Advisors LP Sells 86,787 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,025,194 shares of the company's stock after selling 86,787 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.18% of Fastenal worth $73,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 6.9% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the company's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 56.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.4% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 6,412 shares of the company's stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,038,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST traded down $1.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.73. The stock had a trading volume of 3,196,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,094,554. The firm has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a PE ratio of 40.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.09.

Fastenal's stock is going to split on the morning of Thursday, May 22nd. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, April 23rd. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, May 21st.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 87.56%.

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.