Grandfield & Dodd LLC Acquires New Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Grandfield & Dodd LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 52,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,509,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,557,000. Paladin Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, Panoramic Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth $234,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.17.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $51.23 on Tuesday. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $38.97 and a twelve month high of $52.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $58.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.33. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.14%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This 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 Profile

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.