Perigon Wealth Management LLC Invests $225,000 in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 108,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,800,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 138,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,716,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 310,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,961 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 116,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,331,000 after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $73.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,772 shares of company stock valued at $5,365,455 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FAST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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.