Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Fastenal by 23.4%, selling 10,536 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with holdings worth approximately $2.68 million.
• Fastenal reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues reaching $2.08 billion for the quarter, marking an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• Fastenal's recent dividend announcement included a payment of $0.22 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,574 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,536 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Fastenal by 3.9% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its stake in Fastenal by 21.5% during the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock worth $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Fastenal by 23.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company's stock worth $190,705,000 after acquiring an additional 473,987 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $47.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,628,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,498,435. 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 firm has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day moving average price is $47.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.75. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $34.69 and a 52-week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion during 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%.Fastenal's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company'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 directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.