Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $25.07 Million Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 348,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,126 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.06% of Fastenal worth $25,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $522,558,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $101,183,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 301.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,478,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,445 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,836,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $81.54 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.36 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 87.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. This trade represents a 71.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.