Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Acquired by Toth Financial Advisory Corp

Key Points

• Toth Financial Advisory Corp significantly increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 113.6%, acquiring an additional 88,292 shares during the 2nd quarter, bringing its total ownership to 165,989 shares valued at $6,972,000.
• Recent insider trading activities included significant sales by executives, with one EVP selling 6,842 shares and another selling 34,612 shares, contributing to a total of 111,230 shares sold worth over $5 million in the last three months.
• Fastenal's stock opened at $47.58, and the company reported earnings of $0.29 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue up 8.6% year-over-year.

Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 113.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 165,989 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 88,292 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp's holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued 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, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.58. 13,747,553 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,858,801. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $34.69 and a twelve month high of $50.63. The company has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.75, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.95.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

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.