Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 362,276 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 181,138 shares during the period. Fastenal makes up approximately 1.1% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $15,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at about $73,733,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 97.5% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company's stock worth $137,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,507 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter worth about $119,136,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 266.4% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.82.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Fastenal
Fastenal Price Performance
NASDAQ FAST opened at $47.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $34.69 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.64.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Fastenal Cuts Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.
Fastenal Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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