Fastenal Company $FAST Holdings Lifted by SNS Financial Group LLC

SNS Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,648 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,826 shares during the period. SNS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,743,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308,254 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513,985 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 107.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530,339 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 98.9% in the 2nd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 5,379,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674,765 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,050. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $41.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.40. The company has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.