Fastenal Company $FAST Stock Position Lifted by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems increased its Fastenal stake by 44% in the third quarter, adding 502,200 shares for a total holding of 1.64 million shares valued at approximately $81.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 81.38% of the company.
• Fastenal exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.35 in EPS and $2.46 billion in revenue, with revenue up 15.5% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating remains “Hold,” with an average price target of $51.46.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equivalent to $1.04 annually and a 2.0% yield; shares opened at $51.91, near their 12-month high of $53.30.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,643,034 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 502,200 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.14% of Fastenal worth $81,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter worth $5,105,454,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter valued at $859,310,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $410,919,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $239,279,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $230,169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FAST. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fastenal from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $51.91 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $38.97 and a 12-month high of $53.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.87%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.

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