Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Increases Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 957.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,210 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,169,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,265,119,000 after buying an additional 75,852,223 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Fastenal by 99.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,330,000 after acquiring an additional 27,107,520 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 103.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,995,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,380,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 103.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,141,000 after acquiring an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,743,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $42.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.89. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $50.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen purchased 1,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $39,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $198,000. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,800. This trade represents a 11.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders bought 3,000 shares of company stock worth $131,630. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.73.

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.