Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,900 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $779,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3,168.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,459,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,168,000 after buying an additional 16,925,319 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 150.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,875,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,066,000 after buying an additional 1,729,206 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,629,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,577,439,000 after buying an additional 1,345,542 shares in the last quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the first quarter worth approximately $56,405,000. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Fastenal by 177.3% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,298,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,872,000 after buying an additional 830,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.68% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Company (FAST) traded down 0.97% on Tuesday, reaching $42.76. 1,504,561 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.15 and its 200-day moving average is $46.42. The stock has a market cap of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53 and a beta of 0.98. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $37.70 and a 52-week high of $52.74.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 12th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. Fastenal had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post $1.92 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 24th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 70.33%.

Fastenal announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 11th that allows the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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A number of research firms have issued reports on FAST. Longbow Research upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Credit Suisse Group AG upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Argus upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial, Inc. upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.14.

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.71 per share, for a total transaction of $25,626.00. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Holden Lewis purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $43.76 per share, for a total transaction of $43,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,760. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 3,600 shares of company stock worth $154,256. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is engaged in wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies. The Company is engaged in fastener distribution, and non-fastener maintenance and supply business. As of December 31, 2016, it distributed these supplies through a network of approximately 2,500 stores. Its customers are in the manufacturing and non-residential construction markets.