Optas LLC Purchases 6,863 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Optas LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,712 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,863 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its position in Fastenal by 101.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,404,000 after buying an additional 1,883,419 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth $73,733,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $119,136,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday. Barclays began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “positive” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens raised their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $47.55 on Thursday. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $34.69 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The company has a market capitalization of $54.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.24 and a 200-day moving average of $43.76.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 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.