Amalgamated Bank Acquires 139,198 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 107.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,282 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139,198 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $11,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 94.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513,985 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $41.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.33. The company has a market capitalization of $47.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued 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 return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The company 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 company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.50.

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.