Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Purchased by Abacus Wealth Partners LLC

Key Points

• Abacus Wealth Partners LLC has increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 108.0%, purchasing an additional 6,661 shares, bringing its total holdings to 12,827 shares valued at approximately $539,000.
• Fastenal reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.29, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.28, with revenues of $2.08 billion, marking an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company's dividend yield stands at 1.8% after declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, despite a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 108.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,827 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,661 shares during the quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $652,875,000 after buying an additional 142,972 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,198,000 after buying an additional 168,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 11.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,933,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $460,153,000 after buying an additional 613,254 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird raised Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. 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. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST stock traded up $0.75 on Tuesday, reaching $47.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,845,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,530,519. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $34.69 and a 52 week high of $50.63. The company has a market capitalization of $54.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.00. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company's 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 $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.