Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 101.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,312 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,855 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,169,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,265,119,000 after buying an additional 75,852,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 103.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,995,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,380,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,141,000 after acquiring an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 87.9% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 103.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950,503 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $40.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.20 and a 200-day moving average of $44.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 4.26. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 82.24%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $39,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,000. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,800. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,000 shares of company stock worth $131,630. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.32.

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.