Veriti Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Veriti Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Rating) by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,515 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the quarter. Veriti Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $328,554,000. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 334.5% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,465,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,148,000 after acquiring an additional 4,977,181 shares during the period. UMB Bank N A MO grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,463.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank N A MO now owns 1,308,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,243 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,138,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,557 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6,912.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 586,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,563,000 after acquiring an additional 578,014 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

In related news, Director Michael J. Ancius purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.41 per share, for a total transaction of $36,666.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 25,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,463,952.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Ancius purchased 678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $49.18 per share, for a total transaction of $33,344.04. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 28,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,390,072.70. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 3,563 shares of company stock valued at $182,773 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $64.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fastenal from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.80.

FAST stock opened at $50.44 on Friday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $48.10 and a 1-year high of $64.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $29.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.12.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 13th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.72% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 27th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 26th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

Fastenal Company Profile (Get Rating)

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, which are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.

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