Fielder Capital Group LLC Increases Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 99.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,868 shares during the quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Fastenal by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.4% during the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 2.4% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $382,050. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock worth $4,336,603 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.3%

FAST stock opened at $42.87 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $35.31 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 4.26. The company has a market cap of $49.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted 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). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.