Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Fastenal Company by 3.4%, now owning approximately 0.65% of the company valued at $286.9 million after selling 129,335 shares.
• Fastenal recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a net margin of 15.30% and revenue growth of 8.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, with a payout ratio currently at 84.62%, indicating a 1.8% dividend yield for shareholders.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,700,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 129,335 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.65% of Fastenal worth $286,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company's stock worth $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.4% in the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company's stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company's stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company's stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company's stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.14. 5,182,230 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,598,934. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $32.04 and a 52 week high of $50.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The business 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%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of 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 shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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.

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.