State Street Corp Purchases 869,793 Shares of Fastenal Company $FAST

Key Points

• State Street increased its Fastenal stake by 869,793 shares in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 56.44 million shares, or 4.92% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 81.38% of Fastenal.
• Analysts hold a mixed outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $49.50. Recent ratings range from “outperform” to “underperform.”
• Fastenal reported quarterly revenue growth of 14.7% year over year and met earnings expectations at $0.33 per share; it also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.26, producing a 2.1% annualized yield.

State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,438,968 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 869,793 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 4.92% of Fastenal worth $2,710,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter valued at about $859,310,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $646,046,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $410,919,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $239,279,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Six equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,875,810. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $50.08 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.18, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Fastenal Company has a 12-month low of $38.97 and a 12-month high of $52.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $49.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.89. The company has a market capitalization of $57.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a $0.26 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Fastenal's dividend 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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