Analysts Set Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) PT at $74.80

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.80.

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 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

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its position in Fastenal by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 499.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,186,000 after purchasing an additional 110,027 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 210,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,259,000 after buying an additional 11,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $82.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $60.16 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.45.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results 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. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

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.