Fiduciary Financial Advisors Makes New $501,000 Investment in Fastenal Company $FAST

Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 10,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,491,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,874,000 after acquiring an additional 39,406 shares during the period. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,041,000. National Pension Service grew its position in Fastenal by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,603,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,362,000 after purchasing an additional 45,260 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,105,454,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,820,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,699,000 after purchasing an additional 959,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.17.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $51.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $58.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.41. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $52.92.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

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