Harbour Investments Inc. Increases Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 72.7% in Q2, owning 24,974 shares worth approximately $1,049,000.
• Fastenal recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.29, slightly below analyst expectations, while showing an 11.7% increase in revenue year-over-year with $2.13 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, amounting to an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%, with a payout ratio of 82.24%.

Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 72.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,974 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,509 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,074,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,712,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on FAST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $42.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.03. The stock has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.26.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,050. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock worth $4,336,603. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

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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