Principle Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 3,454 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 104.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,754 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $229,000. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. This 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the company’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 value of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 90,178 shares of company stock worth $4,336,603 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $42.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.14. The company has a market cap of $49.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FAST. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays set a $45.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

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.