Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Director Daniel L. Johnson Purchases 3,350 Shares of Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $67.50 on Friday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The stock has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.21.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Fastenal by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 900,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,304,000 after buying an additional 31,814 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,204,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 178.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 78,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 49,972 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,293,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 262,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,401,000 after purchasing an additional 55,491 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

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.