Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 22,331 Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Fastenal Company by 40.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 22,331 shares worth approximately $6 million.
• Fastenal's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.29, beating analysts' expectations by $0.01, with revenues reaching $2.08 billion.
• The company recently announced a $0.22 quarterly dividend set to be paid on August 26th, representing an annual yield of 1.8% with a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 40.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,609 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,331 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,275,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $595,112,000 after buying an additional 74,903 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $526,578,000 after buying an additional 966,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,703,000 after buying an additional 116,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.36.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.1%

FAST stock opened at $47.99 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.52. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $32.04 and a fifty-two week high of $48.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. The company has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

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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