Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 6,285 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 8.7%, owning 78,123 shares valued at approximately $6.06 million following its acquisition of additional shares.
• Fastenal reported earnings of $0.29 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.28, with revenue of $2.08 billion, reflecting an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• Fastenal has a market cap of $56.10 billion and a current stock price of $48.88, with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, yielding 1.8%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,123 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,285 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Fastenal were worth $6,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,275,793 shares of the company's stock worth $595,112,000 after acquiring an additional 74,903 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Fastenal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $526,578,000 after buying an additional 966,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,018,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,703,000 after buying an additional 116,866 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364 over the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Fastenal from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.36.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.8%

Fastenal stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $49.14. 5,184,271 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,854,181. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.95. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $32.04 and a fifty-two week high of $50.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.22.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

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.