Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Purchased by Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in Fastenal by 100.0% during the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 17,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 8,540 shares in the last quarter. Mainsail Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 100.0% during the second quarter. Mainsail Asset Management LLC now owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Fastenal by 98.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 144,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,065,000 after buying an additional 71,700 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 90.4% during the second quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,284,000 after buying an additional 14,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department lifted its position in Fastenal by 114.5% during the second quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 61,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after buying an additional 32,973 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.7%

FAST opened at $47.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.22 and its 200-day moving average is $43.74. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $34.69 and a 52-week high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 84.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “positive” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.