Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Raised to $64.00 at HSBC

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by investment analysts at HSBC from $59.00 to $64.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the stock. HSBC's target price points to a potential downside of 7.77% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on FAST. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.5 %

Fastenal stock traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $69.39. 4,439,417 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,074,303. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.98. The stock has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total value of $1,633,607.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,513,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the first quarter valued at $195,459,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Fastenal by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,092,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492,722 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,060,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company's stock worth $256,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,936 shares in the last quarter. 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.