Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Cuts Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,675 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $3,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,019.0% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on FAST shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.40.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of FAST opened at $78.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.33 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. Corporate 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.