Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research 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 twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.45.

FAST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $768,861.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,750. The trade was a 27.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 163,200 shares of company stock valued at $6,675,975. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,713 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Fastenal by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,578,000 after buying an additional 966,629 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $43.27 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $44.00. The company has a market cap of $49.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.06, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 4.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.19.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Fastenal had a return on equity of 31.99% and a net margin of 15.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

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.