William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of Fastenal Q3 Earnings

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair upped their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Fastenal in a report released on Thursday, July 10th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $0.30 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.30. The consensus estimate for Fastenal's current full-year earnings is $2.15 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Fastenal's Q3 2026 earnings at $0.32 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.31 EPS.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 31.99% and a net margin of 15.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

FAST has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fastenal from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.45.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock traded up $1.80 on Monday, hitting $45.07. The stock had a trading volume of 18,527,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,694,777. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $32.04 and a twelve month high of $46.04. The business's 50 day moving average is $41.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.19. 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 market cap of $51.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.96.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 19,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $768,861.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,987,750. This trade represents a 27.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 11,136 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 90 days, insiders have sold 163,200 shares of company stock valued at $6,675,975. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,317,271 shares of the company's stock worth $5,685,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,479 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,615,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,753,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,871 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company's stock worth $1,214,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,713 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,418,765 shares of the company's stock worth $652,875,000 after purchasing an additional 142,972 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,322,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $526,578,000 after purchasing an additional 966,629 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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.