Fastenal Company $FAST is Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,788 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,850 shares during the quarter. Fastenal accounts for approximately 1.0% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $11,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV raised its position in Fastenal by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 88.7% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 700,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,441,000 after buying an additional 329,413 shares during the period. CacheTech Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $377,000. Adams Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $377,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Fastenal by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 80,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,386,000 after acquiring an additional 18,712 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $52.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $495,800. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sarah N. Nielsen bought 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.60 per share, with a total value of $39,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $198,000. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $131,630 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $42.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $48.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day moving average is $44.43. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors 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 yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 82.24%.

Fastenal Company 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.