Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 45,400 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in Fastenal by 29.5%, now owning 108,384 shares valued at approximately $8.4 million.
• Fastenal's CFO and an insider recently sold a combined total of 69,776 shares, significantly reducing their ownership by 67.38% and 80.40% respectively.
• The company's most recent earnings report showed a net margin of 15.30% and a revenue increase of 8.6% year-over-year, with an EPS of $0.29 exceeding analysts' expectations.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 29.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,384 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,400 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 89.5% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 41,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,212,000 after buying an additional 19,559 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 95.4% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,092 shares of the company's stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 7,857 shares in the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 19.4% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at about $911,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 11.1% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 745,885 shares of the company's stock worth $57,843,000 after acquiring an additional 74,688 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 directly 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.7%

Fastenal stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,319,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,836,378. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $32.04 and a 12 month high of $50.06. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $44.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.14. The company has a market capitalization of $56.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.95.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given 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 yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 84.62%.

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.