Park Place Capital Corp Purchases 1,487 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 3,304.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,532 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $496,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 174,400.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 148,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,526,000 after buying an additional 10,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $49.04 on Wednesday. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $34.69 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.39. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $56.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,834. This trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FAST. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens upped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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.