First Manhattan CO. LLC. Buys New Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• First Manhattan Co. LLC has acquired a new stake in Fastenal Company, purchasing 9,008 shares valued at approximately $699,000.
• Fastenal's quarterly earnings report showed a net profit increase, with EPS of $0.29, surpassing consensus estimates and reflecting an 8.6% revenue growth from the previous year.
• Insider transactions revealed significant stock sales, with Fastenal's CFO selling 21,052 shares, indicating a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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 period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% during the 1st 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 period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position 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 buying an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 21.5% in 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 boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 23.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,705,000 after purchasing an additional 473,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens raised their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST traded up $0.20 on Monday, hitting $48.19. The company had a trading volume of 6,004,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,528,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The company's fifty day moving average price is $46.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.25. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $32.99 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The stock has a market cap of $55.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

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.