Taylor Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,482 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Taylor Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,960 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,482 shares during the quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,950,503 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 94.4% in the second quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after acquiring an additional 4,513,985 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Fastenal by 107.2% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,530,339 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 90.0% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,934,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,251,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 101.0% in the second quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $42.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $48.84 billion, a PE ratio of 39.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.14 and a 200-day moving average of $44.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,050. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction 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 Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Barclays set a $45.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

About Fastenal

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.