Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its ownership in Fastenal Company by 8.9%, now holding over 22.6 million shares valued at approximately $1.75 billion.
• Fastenal reported quarterly earnings of $0.29 per share, beating expectations and experiencing an 8.6% revenue increase year-over-year, totaling $2.08 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, representing an annual yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 3.94% of Fastenal worth $1,753,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,628,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $476,640,000 after acquiring an additional 33,718 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 76,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 3,191 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 777.1% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 311,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,632,000 after acquiring an additional 275,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 128,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.99. 5,069,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,317,861. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $32.04 and a 1 year high of $48.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $43.82 and its 200 day moving average is $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. The firm has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.14, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.95.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $1,349,046.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird raised Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.36.

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.