Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Purchases 3,725 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 102.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,350 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,725 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Fastenal by 107.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530,339 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Fastenal by 101.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 3,747,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,419 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,733,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,507 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last quarter. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of FAST opened at $45.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.87. The firm has a market cap of $52.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.94.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.