Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Short Interest Update

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,030,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the November 15th total of 12,780,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,168,521. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FAST. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,703,000 after purchasing an additional 165,423 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 60,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Fastenal by 83.1% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 29,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 13,307 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,038,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of FAST traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $77.95. 339,941 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,223,446. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.33 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.66 billion, a PE ratio of 38.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.63 and a 200-day moving average of $71.47.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’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 firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.40.

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.