Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Research Coverage Started at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stephens upped their price target on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $81.85 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. Fastenal has a 52 week low of $59.47 and a 52 week high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,667.05. The trade was a 73.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony Paul Broersma sold 680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.86, for a total transaction of $52,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,033 shares of company stock valued at $19,240,434 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the third quarter worth $716,000. Marshfield Associates raised its position in Fastenal by 0.5% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 2,011,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,632,000 after acquiring an additional 10,123 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Fastenal by 169.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Institutional investors 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.