J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Grows Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG significantly increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 244.9% in the second quarter, holding a total of 44,634 shares valued at $1,875,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Charles Schwab and Patton Fund Management, have also increased their positions in Fastenal, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 81.38%.
• Fastenal recently posted earnings of $0.29 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while its quarterly revenue rose by 8.6% compared to the previous year.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 244.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,634 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,692 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Fastenal by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,074,000 after buying an additional 12,721 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,180,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted 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 valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 11,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $47.88 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $48.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.56. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for 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%.Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

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.

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.