Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• The average consensus rating for Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) among analysts is a "Hold", with eight out of fourteen brokerages assigning this rating.
• Fastenal reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.29, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.28, while revenue increased by 8.6% year-over-year.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski and another insider selling a combined total of 69,776 shares recently, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership stakes.

Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.3636.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FAST. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Baird R W raised Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This trade represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 83.9% in the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 11,884 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 127.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 170,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 95,453 shares during the period. Provident Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 886,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,243,000 after purchasing an additional 52,116 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 77.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,142,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686,872 shares during the period. Finally, Claris Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $236,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded down $0.52 on Thursday, reaching $49.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,613,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,464,649. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $32.04 and a twelve month high of $50.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

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.