Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 71.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,652 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 92,721 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd 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 shares of Fastenal by 94.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after buying an additional 4,513,985 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 107.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after buying an additional 3,530,339 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,934,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,251,000 after buying an additional 2,337,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 101.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,404,000 after buying an additional 1,883,419 shares in 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. 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 note on Thursday, September 4th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $45.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $42.54 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.32. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $48.84 billion, a PE ratio of 39.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

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.