Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 1.1%, owning a total of 3,292,634 shares valued at approximately $255 million after acquiring 35,867 shares in the first quarter.
• Fastenal's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.29, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $2.08 billion marking an 8.6% increase year-over-year.
• Insider selling activity was noted, with executives like EVP John Lewis Soderberg and CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski selling a combined total of 53,776 shares of Fastenal stock.

Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,292,634 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 35,867 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.57% of Fastenal worth $255,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $496,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $290,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $1,095,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $16,648,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Fastenal from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.32. The company had a trading volume of 977,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,659,748. The firm has a market cap of $52.01 billion, a PE ratio of 43.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.95. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $48.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

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.