Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Purchased by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 113.8%, acquiring an additional 406,320 shares, bringing its total shares owned to 763,409 valued at approximately $32 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that executives sold 111,230 shares of Fastenal stock worth about $5.3 million in the last 90 days, with significant sales made by EVP John Lewis Soderberg and EVP William Joseph Drazkowski.
• Fastenal reported a $0.29 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.28, while year-over-year revenue growth was recorded at 8.6%.

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 113.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 763,409 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 406,320 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.07% of Fastenal worth $32,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 8,541.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock worth $131,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,628 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,280,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,760,000 after buying an additional 1,619,507 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at $119,136,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 266.4% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,824,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,455,000 after buying an additional 1,326,260 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.8%

FAST stock opened at $47.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.75, a PEG ratio of 4.29 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 1 year low of $34.69 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.89.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed 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, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.82.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.