Graham Capital Management L.P. Takes Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. has acquired a new stake in Fastenal Company, purchasing 120,140 shares valued at approximately $9.3 million in the first quarter.
• The company's quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations, reporting $0.29 EPS and a revenue of $2.08 billion.
• Fastenal recently declared a dividend of $0.22 per share, leading to a 1.8% yield, but has a high dividend payout ratio of 84.62%.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 120,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,317,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock worth $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 1.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock worth $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Fastenal by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company's stock worth $504,703,000 after purchasing an additional 116,866 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company's stock worth $511,198,000 after purchasing an additional 168,830 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.52. The company had a trading volume of 3,729,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,194,301. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $46.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.02. The company has a market capitalization of $56.83 billion, a PE ratio of 47.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $32.04 and a 1-year high of $50.63. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens increased their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.36.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last quarter. 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.