Naples Global Advisors LLC Purchases 9,370 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 91.7% in Q2, acquiring an additional 9,370 shares to bring its total ownership to 19,590 shares.
• Fastenal's recent quarterly earnings showed a profit of $0.29 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside an 8.6% revenue growth year-over-year.
• Insider transactions revealed significant selling by executives, with EVP William Joseph Drazkowski and CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski reducing their holdings, indicating potential concerns among management.

Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 91.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,590 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,370 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.4% in the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,559,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $48.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.32, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $34.69 and a twelve month high of $50.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.

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