Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 629,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 82,979 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned 0.11% of Fastenal worth $48,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,275,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,112,000 after acquiring an additional 74,903 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Fastenal by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,578,000 after acquiring an additional 966,629 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,703,000 after acquiring an additional 116,866 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $47.99 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $32.04 and a 52 week high of $48.38. The firm has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, 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 value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

Fastenal Company Profile

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.