Parthenon LLC Has $17.10 Million Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Parthenon LLC lessened its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 272,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,065 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for about 2.2% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $17,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Sara Bay Financial lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.3% in the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Team Hewins LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% in the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $69.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.74, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.22 and a 200-day moving average of $68.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $53.83 and a 1-year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.