Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Lowers Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc decreased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,727 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 7,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has 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 $67.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,050 shares of company stock worth $3,411,049 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $67.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.54 and a 200 day moving average of $66.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.23%.

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.