Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Bought by NewEdge Advisors LLC

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 8.0%, now owning 94,615 shares valued at approximately $7.34 million.
• Fastenal reported a quarterly earnings beat with $0.29 EPS compared to expectations of $0.28, resulting in an 8.6% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Fastenal recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22, translating to an annual yield of 1.8%, despite maintaining a high dividend payout ratio of 84.62%.

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,615 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,033 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% in 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 8,541.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,388,000 after buying an additional 1,674,628 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $119,136,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,326,260 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal 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 in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on 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 valued at $5,288,364 over the last quarter. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.45. 5,506,469 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,565,287. The stock has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $47.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.58. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $34.67 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Stephens raised 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. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.82.

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.