UBS Group Initiates Coverage on Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $81.85 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $59.47 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.23.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. The trade was a 13.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,033 shares of company stock worth $19,240,434 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fastenal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,161,000 after purchasing an additional 636,546 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.