Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $52.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $45.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group raised Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.73.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $41.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.48 and its 200-day moving average is $44.42. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, Director Sarah N. Nielsen purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.60 per share, for a total transaction of $39,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $198,000. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hsenghung Sam Hsu purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $49.58 per share, for a total transaction of $49,580.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,800. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders purchased 3,000 shares of company stock worth $131,630. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 63.3% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 17,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Fastenal by 210.6% in the first quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 12,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 8,716 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter valued at about $535,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 58.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.