Hsbc Global Res Downgrades Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) to Moderate Sell

Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) from a hold rating to a moderate sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.40.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.7 %

FAST opened at $78.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.19. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.33 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share 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 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 previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 approximately $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock worth $12,639,438. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 737,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after acquiring an additional 636,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.