Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives $67.67 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.67.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. HSBC increased their target price on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $405,513,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the first quarter worth $195,459,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,092,207 shares of the company's stock worth $430,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492,722 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,060,126 shares of the company's stock worth $392,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Fastenal stock traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $69.39. 4,439,417 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,074,303. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $73.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. The firm has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. Fastenal's payout ratio is currently 77.23%.

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.