National Pension Service Grows Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Fastenal stake by 2.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 1.65 million shares valued at about $79.2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 81.38% of FAST.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with six Buy, five Hold and two Sell ratings; Fastenal has an overall Hold consensus and an average price target of $49.17.
• Fastenal reported quarterly revenue of $2.39 billion, up 14.7% year over year, while matching estimates with earnings of $0.33 per share. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.26 per share, implying a 2.1% yield.

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,648,147 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 43,297 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.14% of Fastenal worth $79,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FAST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4,689.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,371,948 shares of the company's stock worth $4,052,385,000 after purchasing an additional 82,610,391 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,734,674 shares of the company's stock worth $2,196,502,000 after buying an additional 631,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,297,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,898,031,000 after buying an additional 919,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,508,216,000 after buying an additional 685,047 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fastenal from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.17.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,875,810. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $49.32 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a one year low of $38.97 and a one year high of $52.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 4.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a PE ratio of 41.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 88.14%.

Fastenal Company Profile

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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