LPL Financial LLC Purchases 34,443 Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 9.6% in Q1, owning approximately $30.39 million worth of shares after acquiring an additional 34,443 shares.
• Analysts have set various price targets for Fastenal, with a consensus target price of $45.64 and a majority rating of "Hold."
• Fastenal reported earnings of $0.29 per share for the last quarter, slightly exceeding expectations, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 391,932 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,443 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.07% of Fastenal worth $30,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 19,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.5% in the first quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the company's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 367.0% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,518 shares of the company's stock worth $4,228,000 after purchasing an additional 42,844 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the first quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 15.4% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,811 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% 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 32,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.61. 3,762,051 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,662,000. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $53.49 billion, a PE ratio of 44.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50-day moving average price is $43.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.33. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $32.04 and a 1-year high of $48.10.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. Fastenal's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Fastenal from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.64.

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.