GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 30.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,566 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.6% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,092,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 92.1% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 6,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,254 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,096,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,927,000 after purchasing an additional 89,351 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.7% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 89,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $71.69 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.33 and a 52-week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

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.