Fastenal Company $FAST Stake Lessened by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,756,651 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,906 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of Fastenal worth $84,371,948 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company's stock worth $1,508,216,000 after buying an additional 685,047 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Fastenal by 12.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $755,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $646,046,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.4%

FAST traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.62. 2,175,096 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,846,472. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.85 and a 200 day moving average of $46.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.72. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $38.97 and a 12-month high of $52.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 2.21.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 34.03%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Fastenal from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita Heise sold 34,964 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company NASDAQ: FAST is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies. The company provides fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and related hardware, along with safety products, tools, material-handling equipment, welding supplies, janitorial products and other maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials.

Fastenal serves manufacturers, construction companies, contractors, government organizations and other commercial customers. Its offerings are delivered through a network of branch locations, customer-specific onsite operations, industrial vending machines, e-commerce platforms and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage inventory and reduce procurement time.

Founded in 1967 by Bob Kierlin in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has expanded from a regional fastener supplier into an international industrial distributor.

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