YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 13,340 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 29.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,316 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,340 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 7,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.45. The company had a trading volume of 6,027,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,911,927. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $50.30 and a 12-month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $40.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.83.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,682 shares of company stock worth $7,375,853 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.