Huntleigh Advisors Inc. Acquires 41,743 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Huntleigh Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 153.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,953 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,743 shares during the quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $496,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 11.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 55.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 364,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,282,000 after acquiring an additional 130,071 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.4% during the first quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $42.46 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.68, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its 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 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.