Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $38.75 and traded as high as $42.30. Fastenal shares last traded at $42.13, with a volume of 4,706,528 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair upgraded Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stephens upped their target price on Fastenal from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.40.

Fastenal Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.75. The firm has a market cap of $49.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is 88.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 11,136 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $452,065.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 193,200 shares of company stock worth $7,895,625. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $873,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after acquiring an additional 886,999 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $409,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,183,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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.