Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Purchases 345,537 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 928,377 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.16% of Fastenal worth $66,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.56. 1,346,788 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,555,624. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $59.49 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $77.57 and its 200-day moving average is $70.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

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.