Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Short Interest Down 6.0% in December

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,310,000 shares, a decrease of 6.0% from the November 30th total of 12,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total transaction of $2,295,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,881 shares in the company, valued at $756,094.12. This represents a 75.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after acquiring an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 60,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 83.1% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 29,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 13,307 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at $2,038,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.91. 1,931,122 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,228,517. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.33 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on FAST shares. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.40.

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.