Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 488,933 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 27.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,247,853 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 488,933 shares during the quarter. Fastenal comprises 2.9% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $111,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,438,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,764,000 after purchasing an additional 869,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,395,000 after buying an additional 183,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $51.91 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.73. The company has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.52, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $38.97 and a 12 month high of $52.92.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.