Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Increases Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 111.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,350 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,931 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Fastenal by 95.0% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 4,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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. Insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 in the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of FAST opened at $48.70 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.23. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

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.