Park National Corp OH Boosts Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Park National Corp OH boosted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 95.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,440 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,610 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $379,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 140.4% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 8,821 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $450,000. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 177,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,735,000 after purchasing an additional 81,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3%

Fastenal stock opened at $47.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $34.67 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.