Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.1667.

FAST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $49.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.71. The company has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a PE ratio of 41.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.72. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $38.97 and a 12-month high of $52.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 2.21.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.33. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 15.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,875,810. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rita Heise sold 34,964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,105,454,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 4,689.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,371,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,052,385,000 after buying an additional 82,610,391 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,734,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,196,502,000 after buying an additional 631,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,297,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,031,000 after acquiring an additional 919,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,699,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,508,216,000 after acquiring an additional 685,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies. The company provides fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and related hardware, along with safety products, tools, material-handling equipment, welding supplies, janitorial products and other maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials.

Fastenal serves manufacturers, construction companies, contractors, government organizations and other commercial customers. Its offerings are delivered through a network of branch locations, customer-specific onsite operations, industrial vending machines, e-commerce platforms and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage inventory and reduce procurement time.

Founded in 1967 by Bob Kierlin in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has expanded from a regional fastener supplier into an international industrial distributor.