UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Raises Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• UBS AM increased its stake in Fastenal Company by 11.5%, owning approximately 1.03% of the company's stock, equivalent to $460 million.
• Insider trading activity included sales by two executives, with one selling 48,724 shares for over $2.3 million, significantly reducing their holdings.
• Fastenal's recent earnings report showed a revenue increase of 8.6% year-over-year, with a reported $2.08 billion revenue and $0.29 EPS, surpassing consensus estimates.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,933,636 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 613,254 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 1.03% of Fastenal worth $460,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 8,541.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,388,000 after buying an additional 1,674,628 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at $119,136,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 266.4% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,824,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,455,000 after buying an additional 1,326,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.45. The stock had a trading volume of 5,506,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,565,287. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. 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's 50 day moving average is $47.42 and its 200 day moving average is $42.54. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $34.67 and a one year high of $50.63.

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

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.