Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $69.99, but opened at $73.80. Fastenal shares last traded at $73.01, with a volume of 371,160 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is 77.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.89.

Fastenal Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total value of $3,484,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 2,172.2% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 528.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1,019.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 428 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.