Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 130.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,257 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,615 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garde Capital Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 4,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 750 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 5,330.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of Fastenal 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.8%

FAST opened at $47.99 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 84.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Stephens lifted their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Fastenal 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.