JNBA Financial Advisors Sells 265 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

JNBA Financial Advisors lessened its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,158 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Fastenal were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Fastenal by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after buying an additional 517,172 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 21.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,617,000 after buying an additional 569,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 7.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $83.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.67 and its 200 day moving average is $68.48. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $58.28 and a 1 year high of $83.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal 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 value of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,261 shares of company stock valued at $13,874,979. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Fastenal

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.