Alta Capital Management LLC Buys 40,584 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Alta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 109.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,578 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,584 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays set a $45.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $42.24 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.26. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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 issued 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 is 82.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.