MCF Advisors LLC Has $89,000 Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 235.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,108 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $89,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.6% during the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 1.7% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $47.99 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.04. The company has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.97. 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 Company has a twelve month low of $34.69 and a twelve month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.