Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 95%, owning 13,557 shares valued at approximately $569,000 after purchasing an additional 6,603 shares.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Fastenal, with Stifel Nicolaus setting a target price of $82.00 and Robert W. Baird upgrading the stock to an "outperform" rating with a target of $55.00.
• Insider trading activity included sales by key executives, with EVP John Lewis Soderberg selling 34,612 shares for over $1.66 million, indicating potential market sentiment regarding stock performance.

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 95.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,557 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,603 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in Fastenal by 3.9% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock worth $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its position in Fastenal by 21.5% in the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2%

FAST opened at $47.78 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $48.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.71. 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 company has a market cap of $54.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.94, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $34.69 and a one year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

Fastenal Company 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.

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