LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Trims Position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Fastenal Company by 10.1% to a total of 94,639 shares, valued at approximately $7.34 million.
• Other institutional investors have also adjusted their holdings, with Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 1.4% and Charles Schwab raising its holdings by 8.9% during the same period.
• Fastenal recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29, exceeding expectations, and achieved a net revenue of $2.08 billion, up 8.6% year-over-year.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lessened its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,639 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,619 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock worth $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,275,793 shares of the company's stock worth $595,112,000 after acquiring an additional 74,903 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Fastenal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company's stock worth $526,578,000 after acquiring an additional 966,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company's stock worth $504,703,000 after acquiring an additional 116,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $1,349,046.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $47.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.01, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.61. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $32.04 and a 52 week high of $48.38.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. Fastenal's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research restated a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Fastenal 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.

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