Robert W. Baird Lowers Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target to $71.00

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price target trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $77.00 to $71.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $69.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.83 and a quick ratio of 2.49. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.23%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $826,988.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,392.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 900,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,304,000 after purchasing an additional 31,814 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $13,204,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 178.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 78,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,054,000 after acquiring an additional 49,972 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $1,293,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 26.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 262,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,401,000 after acquiring an additional 55,491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.