OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Takes $1.50 Million Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 31,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Wiregrass Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,020,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Fastenal by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,491,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,874,000 after acquiring an additional 39,406 shares during the period. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,041,000. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Fastenal by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,603,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,362,000 after acquiring an additional 45,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Fastenal by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,820,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,699,000 after acquiring an additional 959,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.17.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $51.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The company has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.72. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $38.97 and a one year high of $52.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.17.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 88.14%.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,001,000. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at $2,875,810. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.