Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Insider Sells $2,341,188.20 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider Trading: Fastenal's insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares for $2,341,188.20, reducing his ownership in the company by 80.40% to 11,880 shares.
• Quarterly Earnings: Fastenal reported earnings of $0.29 per share for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates, with an 8.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.08 billion.
• Dividend Announcement: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, with a payout ratio of 84.62%, reflecting a 1.8% annual dividend yield.

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,711,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,638,287. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $48.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $43.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.61.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FAST. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Fastenal by 7.5% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in Fastenal by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock worth $15,180,000 after buying an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its holdings in Fastenal by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock worth $2,712,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 391,932 shares of the company's stock worth $30,394,000 after buying an additional 34,443 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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