Fastenal Company $FAST Holdings Lifted by Rench Wealth Management Inc.

Rench Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,464 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for about 2.2% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 77.5% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 42,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,284,000 after purchasing an additional 18,482 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at about $699,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 13,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 22.3% in the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 7,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FAST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird raised Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.36.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $49.66 on Tuesday. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $50.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $56.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.75, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

Fastenal 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.