Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 14,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,734,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,196,502,000 after purchasing an additional 631,889 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,297,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,031,000 after purchasing an additional 919,158 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,508,216,000 after purchasing an additional 685,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 14.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,215,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,116 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.1%

Fastenal stock opened at $51.27 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $38.97 and a 12 month high of $52.92. The stock has a market cap of $58.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.33. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on Fastenal in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Fastenal

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.