Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Acquired by Optas LLC

Optas LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 90.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,174 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,462 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,169,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,265,119,000 after purchasing an additional 75,852,223 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Fastenal by 99.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,330,000 after buying an additional 27,107,520 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,995,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,931,830,000 after buying an additional 23,380,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,141,000 after buying an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,743,000 after buying an additional 16,308,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $52.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.73.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $41.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen purchased 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $39,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $198,000. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,800. This represents a 11.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought 3,000 shares of company stock worth $131,630 in the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Fastenal

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.