Aberdeen Group plc Grows Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 107.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,590,537 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 823,859 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $66,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Down 2.0%

FAST opened at $45.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.91. The company has a market cap of $52.54 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Fastenal 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.