ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Purchases 61,847 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. boosted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 107.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,532 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,847 shares during the quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Fastenal by 7.5% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,721 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $47.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $34.69 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.18 and its 200 day moving average is $43.56. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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.