Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Price

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $76.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 53.35% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.55.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.6%

FAST opened at $81.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.54. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $30.68 and a twelve month high of $78.85.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 30,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 11,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $452,065.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 193,200 shares of company stock worth $7,895,625 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5,330.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.