MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 170,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,220 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $12,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This trade represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FAST. Stephens lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $83.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The firm has a market cap of $47.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.08. Fastenal has a one year low of $59.47 and a one year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.