Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Acquired by General Partner Inc.

General Partner Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,378 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,189 shares during the period. General Partner Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,875,000 after buying an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,703,000 after buying an additional 116,866 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,198,000 after buying an additional 168,830 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $47.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.58. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $34.67 and a 12 month high of $50.63. The company has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

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.