Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 2,847 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,847 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $8,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after purchasing an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,655,000 after purchasing an additional 26,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 5.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,974,000 after purchasing an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $74.73 on Friday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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.