Godsey & Gibb Inc. Grows Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 96.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 588,833 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 288,596 shares during the quarter. Fastenal comprises 2.3% of Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Godsey & Gibb Inc. owned 0.05% of Fastenal worth $24,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,875,000 after buying an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,198,000 after buying an additional 168,830 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 11.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,933,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,153,000 after acquiring an additional 613,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business’s 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following 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 position. 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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $47.78 on Tuesday. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $34.69 and a one year high of $50.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.94, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. Fastenal’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Fastenal Company 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.