Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Raised to $38.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fastenal from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Fastenal from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.40.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Fastenal stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $41.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 193,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,150,070. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $30.68 and a twelve month high of $42.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.70 and a 200-day moving average of $38.79. The stock has a market cap of $47.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, 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 value of $4,106,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 565,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,200,378.16. This represents a 15.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 193,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,895,625 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Fastenal by 0.3% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its position in Fastenal by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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.