Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Decreases Stock Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 348,556 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,126 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.06% of Fastenal worth $25,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $287,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $31,514,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company's stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Rench Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80,080 shares of the company's stock worth $5,759,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective 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. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.10.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.7 %

FAST traded down $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.06. 808,701 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,082,709. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The firm has a market cap of $46.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

Fastenal's stock is scheduled to split before the market opens on Thursday, May 22nd. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, April 23rd. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, May 21st.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.56%.

Fastenal 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.