New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 124.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 171,592 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,981 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,849,000 after buying an additional 4,950,503 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 94.4% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 107.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 90.0% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,934,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 101.0% during the second quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,834. This trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock worth $4,336,603 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for 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, October 14th. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.3%

FAST opened at $41.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $47.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.94. 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 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.80 and a 200 day moving average of $44.35.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 82.24%.

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.