Hartline Investment Corp Acquires 32,330 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Hartline Investment Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,660 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,330 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 107.2% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,198,000 after purchasing an additional 168,830 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of Fastenal 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 directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $42.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.83 and its 200 day moving average is $44.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

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.