171,906 Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Purchased by Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super

Key Points

• Aware Super increased its Fastenal stake by 29.2%, purchasing 171,906 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 760,970 shares worth approximately $37.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 81.38% of Fastenal.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Fastenal has an overall “Hold” consensus rating and an average price target of $51.46, despite some firms maintaining or raising “Buy” targets as high as $59.
• Fastenal reported quarterly EPS of $0.35, beating estimates by $0.01, while revenue rose 15.5% year over year to $2.46 billion. The company also declared a $0.26 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.0% annual yield.

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super grew its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 29.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 760,970 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 171,906 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super owned about 0.07% of Fastenal worth $37,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 69.6% during the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 748 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth $38,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $47.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $52.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.69. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $53.30. The company's fifty day moving average is $50.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.93.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.87%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.

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