Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 325,132 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec decreased its stake in Fastenal Company by 52.7%, owning 291,371 shares valued at approximately $22.6 million after selling 325,132 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Fastenal Company beat analysts' earnings estimates with $0.29 EPS for the quarter, and its revenue increased by 8.6% year-over-year, totaling $2.08 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.88 and a dividend yield of 1.8%, with a payout ratio of 84.62%.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 52.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291,371 shares of the company's stock after selling 325,132 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.05% of Fastenal worth $22,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FAST. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 39,436 shares of the company's stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 56,538 shares of the company's stock worth $4,395,000 after purchasing an additional 7,643 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 20,755 shares of the company's stock worth $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,955 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 42,786 shares of the company's stock worth $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 40.9% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,977 shares of the company's stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 3,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.36.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.66. 4,613,202 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,617,034. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.80. The company has a market cap of $56.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $32.04 and a 1 year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $570,834. This represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

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.