Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives $49.17 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.1667.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, Director Rita Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,875,810. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 2.4% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Fastenal by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 68,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Fastenal by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.6%

Fastenal stock opened at $49.32 on Monday. Fastenal has a one year low of $38.97 and a one year high of $52.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The company has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.80, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.14%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies. The company provides fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and related hardware, along with safety products, tools, material-handling equipment, welding supplies, janitorial products and other maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials.

Fastenal serves manufacturers, construction companies, contractors, government organizations and other commercial customers. Its offerings are delivered through a network of branch locations, customer-specific onsite operations, industrial vending machines, e-commerce platforms and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage inventory and reduce procurement time.

Founded in 1967 by Bob Kierlin in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has expanded from a regional fastener supplier into an international industrial distributor.