American Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

American Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $826,988.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,392.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $826,988.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $414,392.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,640 shares of company stock worth $5,044,657. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.67.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $67.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.45, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.29. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.