Sepio Capital LP Decreases Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Sepio Capital LP cut its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,721 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,487 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $496,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $379,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $129,000. BOKF NA increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 6,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $477,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Down 4.5%

FAST opened at $47.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.21. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $32.53 and a 52 week high of $50.63. The company has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. This trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

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.