Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Price

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price target boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $74.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on FAST. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $81.05 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $61.33 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.44 and its 200 day moving average is $70.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,289 shares of company stock worth $16,123,438 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter valued at $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lifted its position in Fastenal by 73.0% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Fastenal by 5.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 210,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,259,000 after purchasing an additional 11,436 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at $2,643,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.