Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $43.27 and last traded at $42.98, with a volume of 210445 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FAST shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $86.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.45.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.02. The company has a current ratio of 4.28, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $49.15 billion, a PE ratio of 42.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.96.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released 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 analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 31.99% and a net margin of 15.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. This is an increase 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 is 88.00%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $768,861.70. Following the sale, the director owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,750. This trade represents a 27.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 100,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.06, for a total value of $4,106,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 565,036 shares in the company, valued at $23,200,378.16. The trade was a 15.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 193,200 shares of company stock worth $7,895,625 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5,330.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Fastenal in the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.