Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 4,689.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 84,371,948 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,610,391 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Fastenal worth $4,052,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of FAST opened at $49.01 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 4.18. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $52.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 34.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 88.14%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, Director Rita Heise sold 34,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,875,810. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FAST. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, August 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.17.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies. The company provides fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and related hardware, along with safety products, tools, material-handling equipment, welding supplies, janitorial products and other maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials.

Fastenal serves manufacturers, construction companies, contractors, government organizations and other commercial customers. Its offerings are delivered through a network of branch locations, customer-specific onsite operations, industrial vending machines, e-commerce platforms and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage inventory and reduce procurement time.

Founded in 1967 by Bob Kierlin in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has expanded from a regional fastener supplier into an international industrial distributor.