M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 344,686 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,392 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp owned about 0.06% of Fastenal worth $22,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,936 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,179,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,004 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after purchasing an additional 957,091 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 80.0% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,435,000 after buying an additional 711,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,445,000 after buying an additional 568,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,285. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 19,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total transaction of $1,364,255.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,285. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.34, for a total transaction of $387,333.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,082 shares of company stock valued at $2,584,060 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.43. The company had a trading volume of 2,592,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,096,502. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $73.21 and its 200 day moving average is $67.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $52.85 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The company has a market capitalization of $39.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.07.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Fastenal 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.