LongView Wealth Management Buys 6,107 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• LongView Wealth Management increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 101.1%, purchasing an additional 6,107 shares in the second quarter, bringing its total to 12,148 shares worth approximately $510,000.
• Fastenal's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.29 and revenue of $2.08 billion, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.01 per share and indicating an 8.6% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on Fastenal, with JPMorgan raising the target price to $46.00, while Baird R W upgraded it to a strong-buy rating and increased its target price to $55.00.

LongView Wealth Management raised its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 101.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,148 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,107 shares during the quarter. LongView Wealth Management's holdings in Fastenal were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Garde Capital Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 4,900.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 750 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 5,330.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $47.58 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.89. The company has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $34.69 and a 1 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.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's payout ratio is 84.62%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

About Fastenal

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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