Lee Financial Co Has $1.04 Million Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Lee Financial Co trimmed its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 11.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,715 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 worth $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8,541.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,628 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,081,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,600,000 after buying an additional 1,547,319 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at $119,136,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 104,388 shares of company stock worth $4,955,363. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $48.88 on Monday. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $32.04 and a 52 week high of $49.26. The company has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.00, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.93. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FAST. Stephens upped their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

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.