Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Purchased by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Fastenal Company by 24.8%, acquiring an additional 762,759 shares to bring its total to approximately 3.84 million shares, valued at around $298 million.
• Fastenal recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29, surpassing expectations and showing an 8.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 24.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,844,379 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 762,759 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.67% of Fastenal worth $298,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5,330.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5,661.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of 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 position. 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 owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.5%

Fastenal stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,042,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,587,572. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $32.04 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.61 billion, a PE ratio of 48.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given 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 is currently 84.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.36.

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.