Robert W. Baird Cuts Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target to $49.00

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price objective decreased by Robert W. Baird from $53.00 to $49.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $45.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.50.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $41.96 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.97. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.15 billion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 82.24%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 6,842 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $333,000.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $583,747.98. The trade was a 36.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 90,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,336,603 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,169,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,265,119,000 after purchasing an additional 75,852,223 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 99.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,317,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,330,000 after purchasing an additional 27,107,520 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,995,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,380,022 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,141,000 after purchasing an additional 18,329,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 87.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,743,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308,254 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Company Profile

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.