Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Has $294,000 Holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 17.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 826 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at $4,473,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Fastenal by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,788,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,910,000 after acquiring an additional 375,818 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $1,349,046.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $46.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.33. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $32.04 and a 12-month high of $48.10. The firm has a market cap of $53.69 billion, a PE ratio of 44.98, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.64.

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.