Investment Management Corp of Ontario Buys 1,469 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,722 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after acquiring an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,659,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after purchasing an additional 517,172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $82.81 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $60.16 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.56. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $47.44 billion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 1.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.