State of Alaska Department of Revenue Grows Stock Holdings in Fastenal Company $FAST

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 91.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 128,816 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,618 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $5,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Fastenal by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 181,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,074,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Fastenal by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 195,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its position in Fastenal by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 35,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 23.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,459,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,705,000 after buying an additional 473,987 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of FAST stock opened at $48.70 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 4.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal Company has a fifty-two week low of $34.69 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

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.