Vise Technologies Inc. Purchases New Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 44,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,884,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 0.4% during the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.5% during the first quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.45 per share, for a total transaction of $42,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,050. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on FAST shares. Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.79.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2%

FAST opened at $41.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 4.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.25 and its 200 day moving average is $44.42. The stock has a market cap of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.92. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $35.31 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 82.24%.

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.