Groupe la Francaise Buys 79,090 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 139.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,628 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,090 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth about $496,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Fastenal during the first quarter worth about $542,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 90,397.7% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 38,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,018,000 after buying an additional 38,871 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 10.8% in the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 15,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $39,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,000. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu bought 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,800. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders bought 3,000 shares of company stock worth $131,630. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on FAST. Barclays cut their price objective on Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.32.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $41.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.52, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.89. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $35.31 and a 12 month high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.39.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 82.24%.

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.