Wolfe Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Wolfe Research from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report issued on Thursday. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research’s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.27.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $76.08 on Thursday. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.93. 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 company has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total transaction of $1,970,441.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,400. This trade represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 over the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $310,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 73.0% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 87,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after buying an additional 36,742 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 369,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,373,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,756,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,572,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,703,000 after buying an additional 165,423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.