Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Makes New $204,000 Investment in Fastenal Company $FAST

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 5,330.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5,661.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens lifted their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $49.11 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $32.04 and a twelve month high of $49.26. The company has a market cap of $56.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.69 and its 200 day moving average is $41.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for 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%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

About Fastenal

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.