Plancorp LLC Raises Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Plancorp LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 102.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,405 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,254 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st 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 period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,180,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Fastenal by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,705,000 after purchasing an additional 473,987 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on FAST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.7%

FAST opened at $47.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $50.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.01, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Fastenal Company 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.