Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,014 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 157.8% in the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 4,575 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 117.5% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,305 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 183.0% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 83.4% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,494,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 112.9% in the second quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 14,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 7,742 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $42.45 per share, with a total value of $42,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,050. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $42.99 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $49.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The business 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%.Fastenal’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stephens increased their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Fastenal 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.