Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.89.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday.

Fastenal Stock Up 9.8 %

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.82 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $56.41 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.58 and a 200 day moving average of $68.02. The firm has a market cap of $43.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The company 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 company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 9,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $415,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.