Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Bought by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. has increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 14.0%, now owning over 4.2 million shares which represents about 0.7% of their investment portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have varied ratings on Fastenal, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target averaging $46.82, while JPMorgan raised its target to $46.00.
• Fastenal recently posted an earnings per share of $0.29, exceeding expectations, and reported a 15.30% net margin for the quarter, alongside an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,227,902 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 519,078 shares during the period. Fastenal accounts for 0.7% of MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned about 0.74% of Fastenal worth $327,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted 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 valued at $14,074,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted 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 valued at $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted 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 valued at $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted 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 valued at $190,705,000 after purchasing an additional 473,987 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $2.28 on Friday, hitting $47.99. 9,382,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,178,352. Fastenal Company has a 1-year low of $32.53 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $46.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.97.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were 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 owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FAST. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note 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 target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.