Sam Hsu, a director at Fastenal (FAST), recently bought 1,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by 50 percent, and came to a total price of just under $53,000.
The buy came just a few days after another director bought 265 shares, paying just over $14,000 to make the buy. Overall, company insiders have been active as both buyers and sellers, although insider sales have far exceeded buys over the past 3 years, even as the stock has trended higher.
Shares of the industrial parts distributor have rallied over 20 percent in the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by about 10 points. Revenues and earnings have also been flat in the same timeframe.
Action to take: Share are more than fairly valued at 30 times forward earnings. Investors may like shares, with the stock’s 2.1 percent dividend yield, which has grown slightly over time. However, the company’s slow growth will likely lead to slow dividend increases going forward.
For traders, shares have been trending up, which can be best played with a call option trade. The January $55 calls, last going for about $3.20, stand to deliver mid double-digit returns in the coming months if shares continue to trend higher.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.