State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Grows Stake in Fastenal Company $FAST

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 100.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 376,298 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 188,149 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $15,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 101.0% during the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 2,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 48.1% in the second quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 100.0% in the second quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 880 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 104.2% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,971,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,794,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515,896 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,747.98. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. The trade was a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 90,178 shares of company stock worth $4,336,603 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $42.87 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $35.31 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The company has a market cap of $49.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.07, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.27 and a 200 day moving average of $44.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays set a $45.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

About Fastenal

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.