Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Acquired by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 122.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,462,918 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 805,260 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Fastenal worth $61,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,591,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,198,000 after purchasing an additional 168,830 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,933,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,153,000 after purchasing an additional 613,254 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens increased their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $48.17 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.49. 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 firm has a market cap of $55.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.32, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.94. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $34.69 and a 1 year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal 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.