Marshfield Associates Grows Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Marshfield Associates increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 0.7%, holding approximately 1,974,506 shares, which constitutes 3.3% of its total holdings.
• Fastenal's recent earnings report indicated a net revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• Insider transactions revealed significant sales, including an EVP selling 6,842 shares and a CFO selling 21,052 shares, resulting in notable decreases in their ownership percentages.

Marshfield Associates increased its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,974,506 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,859 shares during the quarter. Fastenal makes up about 3.3% of Marshfield Associates' portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Marshfield Associates owned 0.34% of Fastenal worth $153,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5,330.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 5,661.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.27. The company had a trading volume of 6,073,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,527,937. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.60 and a 200 day moving average of $42.02. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $32.04 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of 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. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.