NBT Bank N.A. Purchases 16,030 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

NBT Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $135,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,081,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,543,000 after buying an additional 18,475 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 86.5% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 5,804 shares during the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $777,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 26,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $51.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.93. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $38.97 and a twelve month high of $52.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.73. The firm has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.69.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FAST. DA Davidson set a $51.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at $2,875,810. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.