Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Raised to $75.00

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price objective raised by Stephens from $56.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

FAST has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.77 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $56.41 and a 52-week high of $79.04. The company has a market capitalization of $44.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total value of $2,295,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,881 shares in the company, valued at $756,094.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This represents 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 accessible through this link. Also, CFO Holden Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total value of $2,295,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,094.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,799 shares of company stock valued at $9,967,510 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $747,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 98.6% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,126,000 after buying an additional 58,726 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 18,281 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 499.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,186,000 after acquiring an additional 110,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 7.2% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,371,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,316,000 after acquiring an additional 91,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.