30,222 Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Purchased by Alps Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Alps Advisors increased its Fastenal stake by 27% in the third quarter, adding 30,222 shares to reach 142,124 shares valued at about $7.04 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company.
• Fastenal reported quarterly EPS of $0.35, beating estimates by $0.01, while revenue of $2.46 billion exceeded expectations and rose 15.5% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equivalent to a 2.0% yield.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: seven analysts rate the stock Buy, five Hold, and two Sell, resulting in a consensus Hold rating and $51.46 price target.

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 27.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 142,124 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 30,222 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,504 shares of the company's stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 2.7% during the third quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,321 shares of the company's stock worth $6,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,473 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its position in Fastenal by 79.3% during the third quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 8,034 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,554 shares in the last quarter. Legacies Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter worth $170,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 2.8% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 161,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,979,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of FAST stock opened at $52.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.73, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.43. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $38.97 and a twelve month high of $54.96.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $51.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.46.

About Fastenal

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