Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 96.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,814 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,780 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 95.0% in the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group increased its position in Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a “positive” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $45.78 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $48.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.94. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.02, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.94.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 84.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. Company 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.