Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 1,582 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 496,758 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned 0.09% of Fastenal worth $31,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 34,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 117.1% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 749,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,118,000 after acquiring an additional 404,502 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 83.7% during the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 8,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miramar Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $478,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $71.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $53.83 and a twelve month high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.