Norris Perne & French LLP MI Has $19.28 Million Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 297,644 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the quarter. Fastenal makes up approximately 1.5% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Norris Perne & French LLP MI owned about 0.05% of Fastenal worth $19,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Roundview Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 85,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,069,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 6,797 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 239,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,709 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 5,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.50.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.57 billion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.57, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $50.30 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.57.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,633,607.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total value of $1,364,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,285. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,633,607.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,682 shares of company stock worth $7,375,853 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.