Man Group plc Buys New Shares in Fastenal Company $FAST

Man Group plc bought a new position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 436,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,944,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $892,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,146,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $230,169,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,346,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

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

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $51.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $58.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.35, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $52.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.45. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.14%.

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.