Veracity Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Veracity Capital LLC increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 80.9%, acquiring an additional 8,180 shares, bringing their total holdings to 18,288 shares valued at approximately $768,000.
• Fastenal has seen significant interest from other hedge funds, with multiple firms increasing their stakes, contributing to institutional investors owning 81.38% of the company's stock.
• Despite increased stake acquisitions, insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares over the last 90 days, indicating a shift in insider sentiment regarding the company's stock.

Veracity Capital LLC lifted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 80.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,288 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 8,541.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock worth $131,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,628 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company's stock worth $137,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,507 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $119,136,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 266.4% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,824,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326,260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $47.12. 5,126,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,481,205. 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's 50-day moving average is $47.69 and its 200-day moving average is $42.75. The firm has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a PE ratio of 45.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $34.69 and a twelve month high of $50.63.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Company 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.