Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $7.78 Million Position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 107.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,858 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 56,294 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $7,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In related news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

FAST stock opened at $83.56 on Friday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $59.49 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.29. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

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.