Raiffeisen Bank International AG Acquires 6,303 Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG has increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 21.5%, acquiring an additional 6,303 shares, bringing its total holdings to 35,606 shares valued at approximately $2.71 million.
• Fastenal reported earnings per share of $0.29 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.28, while revenue climbed to $2.08 billion, reflecting an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, with a current dividend yield of 1.9%, although its payout ratio stands at 84.62%.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 21.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,606 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG's holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 7.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position 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 buying an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 391,932 shares of the company's stock worth $30,394,000 after purchasing an additional 34,443 shares during the period. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter worth $478,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens lifted their target price on 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. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.36.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.5%

FAST traded up $0.72 on Thursday, reaching $47.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,577,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,672,580. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $32.04 and a 1 year high of $48.10. The business's 50 day moving average is $43.56 and its 200 day moving average is $40.37. The stock has a market cap of $54.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.95.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%. Fastenal's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Company 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.