Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,044,340 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150,210 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.79% of Fastenal worth $443,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FAST. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $496,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 76.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 137.9% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 8,612 shares during the period. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 124.3% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 3,491 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 36,920 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $1,747,792.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,893,600. The trade was a 48.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Satterlee sold 15,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total value of $705,449.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,209,500. This represents a 24.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $46.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.88. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 4.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 29th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 87.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $48.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.83.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.