American Century Companies Inc. Sells 207,355 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. sold 207,355 shares of Fastenal Company, reducing its holdings by 43.9% to 264,541 shares worth approximately $20.5 million.
• Institutional investors own 81.38% of Fastenal's stock, with notable increases in stakes from firms like Charles Schwab and GAMMA Investing.
• Fastenal recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22, which translates to an annualized payout of $0.88 and a yield of 1.7%.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 43.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264,541 shares of the company's stock after selling 207,355 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $20,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 8,541.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock worth $131,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,628 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,081,620 shares of the company's stock worth $221,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,319 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth about $119,136,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock worth $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens raised their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.36.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.1%

Fastenal stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $50.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,488,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,555,821. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $32.04 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $45.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.65 billion, a PE ratio of 48.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.