Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) was upgraded by Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.15. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Hedge funds and other 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.