California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,596,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,121 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $186,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,150,000 after buying an additional 592,583 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $522,558,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

FAST opened at $76.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.98. 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 results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FAST. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Company 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.