Sittner & Nelson LLC Purchases 33,463 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 95.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 68,657 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,463 shares during the quarter. Fastenal makes up approximately 1.2% of Sittner & Nelson LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Sittner & Nelson LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 103.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,141,000 after buying an additional 18,329,847 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Fastenal by 87.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,743,000 after acquiring an additional 16,308,254 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513,985 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 107.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $40.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.37. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $50.63. The firm has a market cap of $46.78 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 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 business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 82.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu bought 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.45 per share, for a total transaction of $42,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,050. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Tuesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.32.

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.