Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.43.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.4 %

Fastenal stock opened at $70.09 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $53.83 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.1% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Sara Bay Financial lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.3% in the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 11,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 1.4% during the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Team Hewins LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.8% in the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.