Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $48.38 and last traded at $47.86, with a volume of 649622 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on FAST. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Fastenal in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

Fastenal Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.95.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.62%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,780.32. The trade was a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 32,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $1,349,046.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 103.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,141,000 after acquiring an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,743,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308,254 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,734,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950,503 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 94.4% in the second quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,298,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513,985 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 107.2% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,822,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,565,000 after buying an additional 3,530,339 shares in 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.