Employees Retirement System of Texas Increases Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas dramatically increased its Fastenal stake by 780.2% in Q4, ending with 1,146,011 shares worth about $46 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 81.38% of Fastenal shares; several other large investors also added to positions recently.
• Fastenal reported Q1 results in line with expectations, posting $0.30 EPS on $2.20 billion in revenue, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share for a 2.2% yield.

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 780.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,146,011 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,015,811 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.10% of Fastenal worth $45,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,515,539 shares of the company's stock worth $7,430,322,000 after buying an additional 2,346,045 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,558,579 shares of the company's stock worth $76,433,000 after buying an additional 53,888 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,387,472 shares of the company's stock worth $362,282,000 after buying an additional 90,095 shares during the period. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $634,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 99.9% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 290,834 shares of the company's stock worth $14,262,000 after buying an additional 145,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "positive" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 36,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $1,747,792.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,893,600. This represents a 48.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $44.45 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $45.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.77. The stock has a market cap of $51.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.75. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.19 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.21%.

About Fastenal

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.

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