Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Grows Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 100% to approximately $1.75 million, owning 41,762 shares after acquiring an additional 20,880 shares.
• Fastenal's stock was upgraded by Baird R W from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting positive expectations from analysts.
• The company reported $2.08 billion in revenue for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and had a net margin of 15.30%.

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 100.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,762 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,880 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock worth $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company's stock worth $190,705,000 after purchasing an additional 473,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $47.43. 2,152,559 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,494,750. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $34.69 and a one year 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. The firm has a market cap of $54.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.61, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.69 and a 200-day moving average of $42.75.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company'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 $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens raised their price objective 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 restated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.