Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives $77.40 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.40.

FAST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. State Street Corp increased its position in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock worth $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,251,000 after buying an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company's stock worth $47,522,000 after buying an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company's stock worth $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

NASDAQ:FAST opened at $74.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.66. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.33 and a one year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.