Fastenal Company $FAST Holdings Lifted by CX Institutional

CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1,073.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 203,749 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 186,381 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $10,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Fastenal by 1.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,438,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,764,000 after purchasing an additional 869,793 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter worth about $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 12.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $755,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,395,000 after purchasing an additional 183,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael 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 transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.75. 7,156,864 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,837,801. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.08. The company has a market cap of $58.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 4.18, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $52.92.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 88.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.50.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies serving businesses, contractors, manufacturers and other organizations. Its product offerings include fasteners such as bolts, nuts and screws, as well as safety equipment, tools, cutting tools, material-handling products, electrical and plumbing supplies, and maintenance and repair items.

The company sells products through a network of branch locations, onsite customer facilities, industrial vending machines and digital platforms.