Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,030,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the November 15th total of 12,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438 in the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its stake in Fastenal by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company's stock worth $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 31,989 shares of the company's stock worth $2,285,000 after purchasing an additional 9,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ FAST traded down $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.64. 2,445,024 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,232,475. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.33 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $79.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.55.

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 for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.40.

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.