Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Bought by General Partner Inc.

Key Points

• General Partner Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 100% in Q2, reaching a total of 20,378 shares valued at approximately $856,000.
• Fastenal reported better-than-expected earnings with $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $0.28.
• The company's recent dividend yield is 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 84.62%, having declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

General Partner Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 100.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,378 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,189 shares during the quarter. General Partner Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5,330.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth $49,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 5,661.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FAST. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $47.45 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $47.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.58. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $34.67 and a 52 week high of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a PE ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insider Activity

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

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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