Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Coverage Initiated at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock.

FAST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,336,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,320,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $59.47 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.93.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 222,079 shares of company stock valued at $16,563,600. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 528.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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.