Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 854,211 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,037 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $55,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,830,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,780,000 after acquiring an additional 423,112 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 4.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,582,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,957,000 after acquiring an additional 337,168 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,444,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,767,000 after acquiring an additional 413,572 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 16.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after acquiring an additional 957,091 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 9.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,445,000 after acquiring an additional 568,372 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $826,988.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,392.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,050 shares of company stock worth $3,411,049 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $67.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The company has a market capitalization of $38.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

About Fastenal

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.