Perennial Advisors LLC Purchases 38,400 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Perennial Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in Fastenal Company by acquiring 38,400 shares, resulting in a 97.2% growth in their holdings, which are now valued at approximately $3.27 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Charles Schwab and Deutsche Bank, have also raised their stakes in Fastenal, indicating a strong interest from the investment community, with institutional ownership now at 81.38%.
• Fastenal reported a quarterly earnings surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $2.08 billion and a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.6%, despite recent insider sales of over 111,000 shares.

Perennial Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 97.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,900 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,400 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC's holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FAST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the first 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 raised 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 buying an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its position in Fastenal by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company's stock worth $2,712,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Fastenal by 23.9% during the 1st 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. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Baird R W upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST stock opened at $47.54 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.98 and its 200-day moving average is $43.07. 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 market cap of $54.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a twelve month low of $34.69 and a twelve month high of $50.63.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

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