Fastenal Company $FAST Stock: Provident Trust Co. Lowers Holdings

Provident Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,359,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,160,739 shares during the period. Fastenal comprises approximately 5.2% of Provident Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Provident Trust Co. owned 0.29% of Fastenal worth $166,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 69.6% in the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,000. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $51.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $38.97 and a twelve month high of $53.30. The company has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.48 and its 200 day moving average is $47.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on FAST shares. DA Davidson set a $51.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.46.

Fastenal 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.