Capital Investment Services of America Inc. Sells 1,250 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Capital Investment Services of America Inc. cut its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,549 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,772 shares of company stock worth $5,365,455 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $73.54 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.02 and a 200-day moving average of $73.85. The company has a market cap of $42.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

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.