OneAscent Financial Services LLC Grows Holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 97.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,260 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,560 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $409,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 54,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,904,000 after purchasing an additional 17,164 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $768,861.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,987,750. The trade was a 27.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,252 shares of company stock valued at $3,521,735 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.7%

Fastenal stock opened at $47.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $32.04 and a 12 month high of $47.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.70. The firm has a market cap of $54.43 billion, a PE ratio of 45.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.96.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 84.62%.

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.