Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Free Report) by 9.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,972 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $564,000, according to the most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently changed their holdings in FAST. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,928,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,529 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $405,513,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,800,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,931,000 after purchasing an additional 109,028 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Fastenal by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares during the same period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 46.2% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,185,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Changes in analyst ratings

Several brokerage firms have recently commented on FAST. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and assigned a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and assigned a “hold” rating to the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and assigned a $80.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a “hold” rating and one has assigned a “buy” rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Check out our latest stock analysis on Fastenal

Fastenal trading down 0.2%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $66.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.97, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted earnings per share of $0.52. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue grew 1.8% year-over-year. On average, research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post earnings per share of $2.05 for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal announces dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will receive a dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.56 and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insider transactions at Fastenal

In related news, EVP James C. Jansen sold 11,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $732,191.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,677,096.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP James C. Jansen sold 11,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $732,191.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,677,096.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.28 per share, for a total value of $31,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,480. The disclosure regarding this purchase can be found here. 0.41% of the shares are currently owned by company insiders.

About Fastenal

(Free report)

The Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, is engaged 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 fastening products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs and related washers used in finished products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machinery.

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