Maven Securities LTD Takes $1.14 Million Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Maven Securities LTD bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,136,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FAST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,105,454,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth $39,417,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $4,041,000. National Pension Service grew its position in Fastenal by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,603,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,362,000 after purchasing an additional 45,260 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Fastenal by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,820,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,699,000 after purchasing an additional 959,731 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.17.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $49.38 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.64. The firm has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $52.92.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 34.03%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.14%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies. The company provides fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and related hardware, along with safety products, tools, material-handling equipment, welding supplies, janitorial products and other maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials.

Fastenal serves manufacturers, construction companies, contractors, government organizations and other commercial customers. Its offerings are delivered through a network of branch locations, customer-specific onsite operations, industrial vending machines, e-commerce platforms and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage inventory and reduce procurement time.

Founded in 1967 by Bob Kierlin in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has expanded from a regional fastener supplier into an international industrial distributor.