Analysts Set Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Target Price at $76.91

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.91.

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Fastenal Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $74.42 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.15. The company has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.