Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Price

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price target reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on FAST. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have 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 data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of FAST opened at $76.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.17.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,553,400. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FAST. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,188,251,000 after acquiring an additional 880,372 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1,789.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 535,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,262,000 after purchasing an additional 507,364 shares during the last quarter. 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.