AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

by · The Cerbat Gem

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 94.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Fastenal

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 4.26. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $50.63. The stock has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.94.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.24%.

Fastenal Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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