Deutsche Bank AG Increases Position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Fastenal by 23.9%, now owning approximately 0.43% of the company valued at $190.7 million.
• Fastenal recently reported earnings of $0.29 EPS, which beat expectations and reflected an 8.6% revenue increase compared to last year.
• Insider selling occurred, with CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski selling 21,052 shares, resulting in a 67.38% decrease in her ownership stake.

Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,459,124 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 473,987 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.43% of Fastenal worth $190,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in Fastenal during the 1st quarter worth about $4,473,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 6.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,788,656 shares of the company's stock worth $448,910,000 after purchasing an additional 375,818 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.36.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 a total of 137,112 shares of company stock valued at $6,304,410 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.45. The stock had a trading volume of 4,587,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,657,891. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.95. 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's 50 day moving average is $43.96 and its 200 day moving average is $40.61. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $48.54.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

About Fastenal

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.