Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Newly Acquired by Sawyer & Company Inc

Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 15,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 26,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. Capstone Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in Fastenal by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd now owns 19,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Fastenal by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 7,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $52.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,310,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,894,717. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $52.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.61. The firm has a market cap of $60.33 billion, a PE ratio of 42.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.69.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 83.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. DA Davidson set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report 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 research report on Thursday, October 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.