Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.10.

FAST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair raised Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5,661.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $82.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

Fastenal's stock is scheduled to split on the morning of Thursday, May 22nd. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, April 23rd. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, May 21st.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.56%.

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.

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