Empowered Funds LLC Grows Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC has increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 57.4%, acquiring an additional 15,970 shares, bringing its total holdings to 43,803 shares valued at approximately $3.4 million.
• Various institutional investors have also made movements with Fastenal shares, with notable investments by Brighton Jones LLC and Lazard Asset Management LLC, increasing the total institutional ownership to 81.38%.
• Fastenal recently reported earnings that surpassed estimates, with a net margin of 15.30% and revenue growth of 8.6% year-over-year; analysts set a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $46.82.

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 57.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,803 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,970 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 8,541.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,628 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $119,136,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 266.4% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,824,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business's 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 have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,399,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,491,512. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.75. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $34.69 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

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.