Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $38.82 and traded as high as $41.59. Fastenal shares last traded at $41.12, with a volume of 4,161,635 shares trading hands.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have issued reports on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.40.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Fastenal
Fastenal Trading Up 1.6%
The company has a market capitalization of $48.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day moving average is $38.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.28 and a quick ratio of 2.14.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.13% and a return on equity of 31.99%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Fastenal's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.
Fastenal Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.00%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal
In other Fastenal news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $768,861.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,987,750. This trade represents a 27.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.06, for a total transaction of $4,106,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,200,378.16. This represents a 15.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 193,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,895,625. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,016,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 8.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,850,871 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,214,002,000 after acquiring an additional 234,713 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $526,578,000 after acquiring an additional 966,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.
About Fastenal
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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