Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Raised to $76.00

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its target price raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $76.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 1.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday. Bank of America started coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of FAST traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $76.92. 2,160,112 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,359,295. The firm has a market cap of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.25, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $56.41 and a 12-month high of $79.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

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

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.