State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Grows Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 75.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,288 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 56,253 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Fastenal were worth $9,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its holdings in Fastenal by 440.7% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 984 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 5,568 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.19, for a total transaction of $452,065.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $4,106,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 282,518 shares in the company, valued at $23,200,378.16. This trade represents a 15.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,568 shares of company stock valued at $5,777,716 over the last quarter. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of FAST stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,788,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,096,283. The company has a market capitalization of $45.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $76.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.09.

Fastenal shares are going to split on the morning of Thursday, May 22nd. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, April 23rd. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, May 21st.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. 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 posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 87.56%.

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.