Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Grows Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 205,910 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 102,145 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Fastenal by 107.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after buying an additional 3,530,339 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Fastenal by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,934,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,251,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,187 shares during the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc grew its position in Fastenal by 101.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,419 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,733,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at $382,050. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock worth $4,336,603 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens upped their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $42.46 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.00. The company has a market capitalization of $48.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.68, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.24%.

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.