JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 614,766 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 22.8%, acquiring 614,766 shares and now holds approximately 0.58% of the company valued at $256.9 million.
• Fastenal's recent earnings report showed a profit of $0.29 per share, beating expectations, and a revenue increase of 8.6% from the prior year, totaling $2.08 billion.
• Fastenal's CFO sold 21,052 shares, a 67.38% reduction in their ownership, while other insiders have collectively sold 137,112 shares worth over $6.3 million in the last ninety days.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,312,865 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 614,766 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.58% of Fastenal worth $256,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $496,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 88,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,342,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $270,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens lifted 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. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.36.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 104,388 shares of company stock worth $4,955,363. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of FAST stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $49.03. 1,424,461 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,598,396. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $32.04 and a 12-month high of $49.26. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $44.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

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.