Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Bought by SageView Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 383.6%, owning 49,440 shares worth $3.83 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Fastenal reported a Q2 net margin of 15.30% with earnings per share of $0.29, beating estimates and demonstrating an 8.6% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently announced a dividend of $0.22 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 84.62%.

SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 383.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,440 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,216 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 5.8% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,407 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 11.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,933,636 shares of the company's stock worth $460,153,000 after acquiring an additional 613,254 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 57.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 43,803 shares of the company's stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 15,970 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the first quarter worth about $329,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 42.0% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 35,846 shares of the company's stock worth $2,780,000 after acquiring an additional 10,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $47.90 on Wednesday. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $33.43 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.36. The company has a market cap of $54.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.06, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm 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 firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business'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 transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.82.

Fastenal 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.

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