Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 348,556 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,126 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.06% of Fastenal worth $25,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,985 shares of the company's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 21,857 shares of the company's stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FAST. Stephens lifted their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.10.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. This trade represents a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $1.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.22. The stock had a trading volume of 4,073,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,092,170. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $76.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.82. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $46.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.56%.

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.