Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $42.68 and last traded at $42.61, with a volume of 2201750 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.40.

Fastenal Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $48.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $40.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.78. 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 (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. Fastenal's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 88.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 11,136 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $452,065.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 30,000 shares of Fastenal 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,994 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. This represents a 71.44% 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 worth $7,895,625. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,753,864,000 after buying an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,214,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,713 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $652,875,000 after acquiring an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $526,578,000 after purchasing an additional 966,629 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.