LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,134 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pflug Koory LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 11,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 5,956 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 122.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 129,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,443,000 after buying an additional 71,383 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 105.8% in the second quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 12,542 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 108.1% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 74,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 38,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $47.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $34.69 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.18 and a 200 day moving average of $43.56.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Company 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.