Pensionfund Sabic Boosts Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 30.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after acquiring an additional 737,833 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock traded up $0.50 on Monday, reaching $72.19. The stock had a trading volume of 272,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,578,800. 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 1 year low of $61.33 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.39.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Fastenal Company 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.