Integrity Alliance LLC. Makes New Investment in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Integrity Alliance LLC has made a new investment in Fastenal Company, purchasing 16,764 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million in the first quarter.
• Several large investors, including Deutsche Bank AG and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., increased their stakes in Fastenal, indicating strong interest in the company, which is now 81.38% owned by institutional investors.
• Fastenal's recent financial performance included an earnings per share of $0.29 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, along with a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.6%.

Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock worth $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 21.5% during 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 grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 23.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company's stock worth $190,705,000 after acquiring an additional 473,987 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,747.98. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value 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. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of FAST stock opened at $47.33 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.51, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.47. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $34.39 and a 1-year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company 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 assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FAST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.