Beacon Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Beacon Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,547 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,817 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $496,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,312,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,913,000 after buying an additional 614,766 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at about $119,136,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 3,459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $40.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 4.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.25, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.89. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.39.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 28th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $39,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,000. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $49.58 per share, with a total value of $49,580.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $495,800. This represents a 11.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 3,000 shares of company stock worth $131,630. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

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.