Marino Stram & Associates LLC Increases Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 102.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,456 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,887 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,733,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,760,000 after buying an additional 1,619,507 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter valued at $119,136,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 266.4% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,824,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $49.04 on Wednesday. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $34.69 and a 52-week high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.28 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.39.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

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.