Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Holdings Boosted by State Street Corp

State Street Corp increased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 4.89% of Fastenal worth $1,999,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 46.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 113,711 shares of the company's stock worth $8,121,000 after acquiring an additional 36,268 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 11.5% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 366,357 shares of the company's stock worth $26,165,000 after acquiring an additional 37,640 shares during the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 13.9% in the third quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 78,070 shares of the company's stock worth $5,576,000 after acquiring an additional 9,546 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 12.4% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,989 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.8% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,735 shares of the company's stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $706,392.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.05. 2,581,957 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,261,016. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.33 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.85.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.80.

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.