Bell Bank Boosts Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Bell Bank increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 110.7%, acquiring an additional 15,804 shares and raising its total shares to 30,078 valued at $1,263,000.
• A significant amount of Fastenal shares were also purchased by other institutional investors, with 81.38% of the stock now owned by these entities.
• Fastenal's CFO sold 21,052 shares at an average price of $45.21, marking a 67.38% decrease in her position, while insider sales totaled 111,230 shares worth $5,288,364 in the last quarter.

Bell Bank lifted its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 110.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,078 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,804 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FAST. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 97.1% during the second quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 352,902 shares of the company's stock worth $14,822,000 after buying an additional 173,833 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Fastenal by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 8,014 shares of the company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 112.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 222,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,347,000 after buying an additional 117,671 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Fastenal by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its position in Fastenal by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,100,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,521,148. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.00. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $50.63.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 in the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal 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.