As Fastenal Shares Dropped Last Week, Executives Bought
Dow Jones Newswires</br></br>WASHINGTON -- Last week was a tough one for the stock market and for the shares of Fastenal Co. But while insiders at other companies held on to their wallets, top executives at Fastenal spent more than $500,000 on their company's shares.</br></br>Three top officers at Fastenal -- the chief executive, the chief financial officer and the chief operating officer -- reported the purchase of a total of 12,000 shares for $529,398, an average price of $44.12 a share. Fastenal shares rose 73 cents, or 1.6%, to $47.86 in 4 p.m. trading yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.</br></br>Fastenal, based in Winona, Minn., sells industrial and construction supplies, wholesale and retail. The company's shares were down 7.7% last week as the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 3.4%. According to data from Insiderinsights.com, insiders at 791 companies reported stock sales last week, compared with only 223 companies where insiders reported purchases.</br></br>Fastenal Chief Financial Officer Daniel L. Florness said he was in Europe last week on a business trip, but he was following his company's stock. "Our stock and the market in general last week took a bit of a beating," said Mr. Florness, who on Friday bought 1,000 shares at $44.06 each. "We really just felt it was a good opportunity to buy some stock."