Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) PT Raised to $76.00 at Morgan Stanley

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $76.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential downside of 1.18% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.91 on Monday. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $56.41 and a 1 year high of $79.04. The stock has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.21 and a 200 day moving average of $67.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Fastenal by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,334,000 after buying an additional 193,734 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,665,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,179,000 after buying an additional 66,130 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Fastenal by 13.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after buying an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Fastenal by 19.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,837,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,161,000 after buying an additional 636,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Fastenal by 21.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,248,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,617,000 after buying an additional 569,118 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.