Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $38.93 and traded as high as $43.21. Fastenal shares last traded at $42.79, with a volume of 2,959,238 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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 Fastenal from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $86.00 price objective on Fastenal in a report on Thursday. William Blair raised Fastenal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 4.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.02. The company has a market capitalization of $48.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.96.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 31.99% and a net margin of 15.13%. The business's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 88.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total value of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 193,200 shares of company stock valued at $7,895,625. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 24,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 3,536 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $409,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.