Logan Capital Management Inc. Purchases 230,986 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 91.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 484,584 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230,986 shares during the quarter. Fastenal accounts for approximately 0.9% of Logan Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $20,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 94.4% during the second quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after buying an additional 4,513,985 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased 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 buying an additional 3,530,339 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 90.0% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,934,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,251,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 101.0% in the second quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,419 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $42.45 per share, for a total transaction of $42,450.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,050. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $42.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.76, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.19. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $50.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.32.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 82.24%.

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.