Nordea Investment Management AB Cuts Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,184,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 162,883 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.21% of Fastenal worth $85,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $72.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.94 and a 200 day moving average of $72.49. The company has a market cap of $41.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.00. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.33 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock worth $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.