D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 124.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,615 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,439 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth $229,000. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 183.0% during the 2nd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Fastenal by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,074,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,180,000 after buying an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $42.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $35.31 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. 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.