Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

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

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,660,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,159,183. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $30.68 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $39.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.00%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 30,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total value of $1,219,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 100,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 565,036 shares in the company, valued at $23,200,378.16. This represents a 15.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 193,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,895,625 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fastenal by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company's stock worth $1,214,002,000 after acquiring an additional 234,713 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock worth $652,875,000 after acquiring an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company's stock worth $526,578,000 after acquiring an additional 966,629 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.