Eastern Bank Acquires 985 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,969 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 107.2% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530,339 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 101.0% during the second quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,419 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter valued at about $73,733,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 97.5% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,507 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $45.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.02, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.94. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.94. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $50.63.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 84.62%.

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.