New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 9,940 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 524,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,940 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Fastenal worth $37,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Fastenal by 8.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 15,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.9% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,387,000 after acquiring an additional 7,013 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 57.9% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 2,712 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 126,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,743,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth about $328,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FAST. Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,261 shares of company stock worth $13,874,979 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $78.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $58.04 and a 52 week high of $79.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.