Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target to $85.00

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $74.00 to $85.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock.

FAST has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Stephens lifted their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.05. 2,581,957 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,261,016. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.33 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The stock's 50 day moving average is $78.44 and its 200 day moving average is $70.72. The company has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.00.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,667.05. This trade represents a 73.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during 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 period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 60,874 shares of the company's stock worth $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 83.1% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 29,319 shares of the company's stock worth $2,094,000 after buying an additional 13,307 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $2,038,000. 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.