Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives $45.64 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Fastenal Company has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from twelve brokerages, with one sell rating, eight hold ratings, and three buy ratings, and an average 12-month price target of $45.64.
• In recent insider trades, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares, decreasing her position by 67.38%, while Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares, reducing his stake by 27.89%.
• Fastenal reported earnings exceeding consensus estimates, with a quarterly EPS of $0.29 and a revenue of $2.08 billion, marking an 8.6% increase year-over-year.

Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.6364.

Several analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fastenal from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after buying an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,463,743,000 after acquiring an additional 16,308,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company's stock worth $390,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.64. The stock had a trading volume of 3,310,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,658,246. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.95. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $32.04 and a 52 week high of $48.10.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.62%.

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.