Carson Advisory Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 99.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,292 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,134 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 29,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 4,072 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 112,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,054,000 after acquiring an additional 10,512 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens raised their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $41.15 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.36. The firm has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a PE ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Fastenal

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.