Stephens Inc. AR Increases Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 101.1% during Q2, holding 67,120 shares valued at approximately $2.82 million.
• Fastenal reported Q3 earnings of $0.29 per share, missing expectations by $0.01, with revenues reaching $2.13 billion, marking an 11.7% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, with a yield of 2.1%, to be paid on November 25th to investors of record on October 28th.

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 101.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,120 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,740 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 183.0% in the second quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 9,378 shares of the company's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock worth $15,180,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $42.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $47.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.09. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.24%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,000 shares in the company, valued at $382,050. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.50.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.