Swmg LLC Invests $314,000 in Fastenal Company $FAST

Swmg LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 183.0% in the 2nd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 9,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Fastenal by 7.5% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,074,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in Fastenal by 3.9% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $42.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a PE ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.03. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

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.