Cinctive Capital Management LP Invests $2.01 Million in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired 25,933 shares of Fastenal Company, valued at approximately $2,011,000, indicating growing interest among institutional investors in the company.
• Fastenal reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting an increase in quarterly revenue of 8.6% compared to the previous year.
• The company has announced a annualized dividend of $0.88 per share, representing a dividend yield of 1.8%, while maintaining a high payout ratio of 84.62%.

Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 25,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,011,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,703,000 after purchasing an additional 116,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,198,000 after purchasing an additional 168,830 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.4%

Fastenal stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $48.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,021,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,178,352. The company has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $32.99 and a 12 month high of $50.63. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $47.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value 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 trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.