Equitable Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 696.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 149,072 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 130,355 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 6,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,934,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337,187 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 106.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 59,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 30,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $232,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.05.

Fastenal Trading Down 7.5%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $42.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.