Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $76.96 Million Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in Fastenal by 0.7% during the first quarter, maintaining ownership of approximately 0.17% of the company, valued at $76.96 million.
• Fastenal's latest quarterly earnings report revealed $0.29 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 992,436 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,260 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Fastenal worth $76,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $496,000. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,573 shares of the company's stock worth $2,055,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 9,579 shares of the company's stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,265 shares of the company's stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 10,478 shares of the company's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 2,534 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research restated a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.36.

Fastenal Stock Up 2.5%

FAST opened at $50.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $45.26 and its 200 day moving average is $41.32. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $32.04 and a fifty-two week high of $50.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.45, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.95.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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. Insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

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.

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