Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Raises Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,214 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,304 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $10,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 5,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.7% in the third quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Fastenal by 71.6% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harfst & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 0.4% during the third quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 63,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays set a $43.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Fastenal from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $52.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $39,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $198,000. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Scott Satterlee sold 15,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total value of $705,449.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,209,500. This represents a 24.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $47.02 on Thursday. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.85 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 29th. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 87.27%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.