YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 9.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,131 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,840 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 179,373 shares of company stock worth $13,029,308. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of FAST opened at $75.93 on Thursday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $56.41 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 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.