First National Trust Co Buys New Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

First National Trust Co purchased a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth $25,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 222,079 shares of company stock worth $16,563,600 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $83.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.93. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $59.47 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The firm has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

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.