Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Acquires New Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 820,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,417,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.07% of Fastenal at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,734,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,196,502,000 after acquiring an additional 631,889 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,297,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,031,000 after acquiring an additional 919,158 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,508,216,000 after acquiring an additional 685,047 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Fastenal by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,215,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,307,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,116 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.17.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $51.13 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 52 week low of $38.97 and a 52 week high of $52.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $58.67 billion, a PE ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.33. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.14%.

Fastenal 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.