Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Increased to $75.00 by Analysts at Stephens

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price target lifted by Stephens from $56.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Stephens’ price target suggests a potential downside of 2.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.22.

Fastenal Stock Up 9.8 %

FAST opened at $76.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.89. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $56.41 and a twelve month high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 stock was 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 directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $747,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Fastenal by 98.6% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,126,000 after purchasing an additional 58,726 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 18,281 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Fastenal by 499.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,186,000 after purchasing an additional 110,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Fastenal by 7.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,371,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,316,000 after purchasing an additional 91,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.