Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Boosts Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 98.0%, now owning 51,094 shares valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 25,295 shares in the second quarter.
• Fastenal's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, with $0.29 earnings per share and $2.08 billion revenue, reflecting an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• Despite the earnings beat, Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 84.62%, and the company announced a recent $0.22 quarterly dividend, leading to an annualized yield of 1.9%.

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 98.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,094 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,295 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock worth $15,180,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its position in Fastenal by 21.5% during the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,712,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Fastenal by 23.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,705,000 after buying an additional 473,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, September 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.12. 5,126,769 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,520,855. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $333,000.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. This trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.