Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives $77.40 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.40.

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.9 %

FAST stock opened at $73.01 on Friday. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $61.33 and a 52 week high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after acquiring an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.