Mather Group LLC. Boosts Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 112.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,770 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,108 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 234,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,872,000 after buying an additional 66,991 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 33.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.0% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 19,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on FAST. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens boosted their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $48.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.19. The stock has a market cap of $55.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $34.69 and a 52-week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Fastenal Company 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.