Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2,172.2% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 283.2% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 755 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.28 per share, with a total value of $31,640.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,480. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.28 per share, with a total value of $31,640.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $221,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $724,486.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,921,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,313,607. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal's payout ratio is 77.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on FAST. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.80.

Fastenal Company 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.