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

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.40.

Several research firms recently weighed in on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fastenal from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.06, for a total transaction of $4,106,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 565,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,200,378.16. The trade was a 15.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 193,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,895,625. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $522,558,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 8,541.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,694,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,388,000 after buying an additional 1,674,628 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Fastenal by 100.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,081,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,600,000 after buying an additional 1,547,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter worth about $119,136,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $42.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $30.68 and a 52-week high of $43.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.82.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. 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 firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.