The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $28.47 Million Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 398,565 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $28,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 106,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,618,000 after buying an additional 41,367 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $356,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 18,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 52.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 26,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 9,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% during the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 1,626,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,143,000 after acquiring an additional 19,345 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on FAST shares. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $83.56 on Friday. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.49 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Company 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.