Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,050,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the December 31st total of 11,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,810,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.84. The company had a trading volume of 514,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,194,712. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.78. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.36 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The company has a market capitalization of $41.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,772 shares of company stock valued at $5,365,455 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,995,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth $832,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in Fastenal by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 132,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,528,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 55,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,026,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. 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.