Norges Bank Takes $646.05 Million Position in Fastenal Company $FAST

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 16,098,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,046,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,515,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,430,322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,508,216,000 after purchasing an additional 685,047 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 14.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,215,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,116 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,604,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,268,000 after purchasing an additional 173,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.3% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,276,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,860,000 after purchasing an additional 26,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $44.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.34. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $50.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.85. The stock has a market cap of $50.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.77, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.73.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.21%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 36,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $1,747,792.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,893,600. This represents a 48.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FAST. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.77.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.