Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Raised to $80.00 at Robert W. Baird

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its target price raised by Robert W. Baird from $67.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

FAST has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stephens boosted their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.33.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $77.64 on Monday. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $56.41 and a 52-week high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.02. The company has a market cap of $44.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 162,331 shares of company stock worth $11,705,854. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $747,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 98.6% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,126,000 after buying an additional 58,726 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Fastenal by 205.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 18,281 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Fastenal by 499.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,186,000 after buying an additional 110,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Fastenal by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,371,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,316,000 after buying an additional 91,754 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.