William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for Fastenal Earnings

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) – Analysts at William Blair dropped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Fastenal in a report issued on Thursday, December 5th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.54. The consensus estimate for Fastenal’s current full-year earnings is $2.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Fastenal’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.53 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.19 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.33 EPS.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS.

FAST has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.80.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FAST opened at $80.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $61.33 and a 1-year high of $84.88. The stock has a market cap of $46.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.98.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total value of $1,033,669.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 208,289 shares of company stock valued at $16,123,438. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.61%.

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.