Farther Finance Advisors LLC Buys 22,792 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 156.5%, acquiring an additional 22,792 shares, bringing its total holdings to 37,356 shares valued at approximately $1.57 million.
• Institutional investors now hold 81.38% of Fastenal's stock, indicating strong interest from large financial firms.
• The company's reported earnings of $0.29 per share exceeded analyst expectations, with quarterly revenue reaching $2.08 billion, a year-over-year increase of 8.6%.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 156.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,356 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 22,792 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock worth $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock worth $652,875,000 after acquiring an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,198,000 after buying an additional 168,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $47.99 on Wednesday. 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 Company has a 52-week low of $34.69 and a 52-week high of $50.63. The stock's 50 day moving average is $47.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.04. The company has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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