Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,378 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,053 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 5.8% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% in the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FAST opened at $83.75 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.87. The stock has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.67, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.