Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Buys 1,529 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,470 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $963,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2,172.2% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens increased their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $76.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.37 and a 200 day moving average of $67.93. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $56.41 and a 1 year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 179,373 shares of company stock worth $13,029,308 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.