Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Now Covered by UBS Group

Analysts at UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “neutral” rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on 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 boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens upped their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Fastenal Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.62 on Wednesday, reaching $84.12. The company had a trading volume of 291,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,310,724. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.47 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 222,079 shares of company stock valued at $16,563,600. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% in the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.