KPP Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 99.0% during the second quarter, owning 16,154 shares valued at $678,000 as per its latest SEC filing.
• Fastenal reported a quarterly revenue of $2.08 billion, exceeding estimates, with earnings per share at $0.29, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28.
• The company has a current dividend yield of 1.8% with an annualized dividend of $0.88, despite having a high dividend payout ratio of 84.62%.

KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 99.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,154 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,038 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Riverview Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 584 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 696 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 95.0% in the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 702 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 696 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $47.88 on Monday. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $34.69 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The stock has a market cap of $54.95 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.64.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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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