Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Acquires New Shares in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $857,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Fastenal by 19.9% in 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $37,659,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Fastenal by 13.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,794,000 after purchasing an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 117.1% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 749,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,118,000 after purchasing an additional 404,502 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $83.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.47 and a 1-year high of $84.88.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.