Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 832 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,431 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,344,000 after buying an additional 1,505,936 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,179,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,163,000 after buying an additional 1,002,004 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after buying an additional 957,091 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,435,000 after buying an additional 711,265 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,445,000 after buying an additional 568,372 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.33.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $66.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 527,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,925,267. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.29. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $52.86 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson bought 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal 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.