Atlas Brown Inc. Buys 6,129 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Atlas Brown Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 100.9%, owning a total of 12,206 shares valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129 shares in the second quarter.
• Fastenal reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.29, beating estimates and reflecting an 8.6% revenue increase year-over-year to $2.08 billion.
• Insider selling was noted, with two executives selling a total of 41,454 shares recently, while corporate insiders own just 0.37% of the company's stock.

Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 100.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,206 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,129 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock worth $652,875,000 after acquiring an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company's stock worth $511,198,000 after acquiring an additional 168,830 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,933,636 shares of the company's stock worth $460,153,000 after acquiring an additional 613,254 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3%

FAST opened at $47.45 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a PE ratio of 45.63, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $34.67 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.61.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FAST. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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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