Empirical Asset Management LLC Has $582,000 Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Empirical Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,254 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,945 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2,172.2% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FAST. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.43.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $70.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.48.

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

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 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 accessible through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.