Fastenal (FAST) – Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 10/14/2024 – Fastenal had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $67.00 to $80.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 10/14/2024 – Fastenal had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $76.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 10/14/2024 – Fastenal had its price target raised by analysts at Stephens from $56.00 to $75.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 10/14/2024 – Fastenal had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. They now have a $86.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $80.00.
• 10/10/2024 – Fastenal had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $57.00 to $63.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 10/7/2024 – Fastenal is now covered by analysts at Bank of America Co.. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/6/2024 – Fastenal is now covered by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $75.93 on Thursday. 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 has a 52 week low of $56.41 and a 52 week high of $79.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.56 and a 200-day moving average of $67.99.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this link. In other news, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total value of $52,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,373 shares of company stock valued at $13,029,308 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after purchasing an additional 66,130 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after purchasing an additional 517,172 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,617,000 after purchasing an additional 569,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.