BankPlus Trust Department Has $2.60 Million Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• BankPlus Trust Department increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 114.5%, holding 61,779 shares valued at approximately $2.60 million.
• Institutional investors own 81.38% of Fastenal stock, reflecting significant interest from firms like Vanguard Group and UBS Asset Management.
• Fastenal reported earnings of $0.29 EPS for the recent quarter, surpassing expectations, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 8.6%.

BankPlus Trust Department boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 114.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,779 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 32,973 shares during the quarter. Fastenal makes up approximately 0.8% of BankPlus Trust Department's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. BankPlus Trust Department's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $47.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $34.69 and a 52 week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.