Aberdeen Group plc Grows Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 107.5% in Q2, owning over 1.59 million shares valued at approximately $66.58 million at quarter-end.
• Fastenal recently declared a $0.22 quarterly dividend set to be paid on November 25th, representing an annualized dividend of $0.88 with a yield of 1.9%.
• Fastenal reported earnings of $0.29 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.6% to $2.08 billion.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,590,537 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 823,859 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.14% of Fastenal worth $66,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 102.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,725 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 169.3% in the 2nd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 762 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in Fastenal by 122.3% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 199.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $45.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $35.31 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The stock has a market cap of $52.54 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $48.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.91.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th 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 1.9%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "positive" rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.41.

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.

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