Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 13.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,987 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 5.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 210,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,259,000 after buying an additional 11,436 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth $2,643,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.5 %

Fastenal stock opened at $81.76 on Friday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.05 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.72. The stock has a market cap of $46.84 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. This represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FAST. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

About Fastenal

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.