Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,130,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the August 15th total of 13,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,929,734.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $747,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,282,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $2,936,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 98.6% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 118,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,126,000 after purchasing an additional 58,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,078,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.43.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST traded up $0.50 on Tuesday, reaching $70.59. 2,027,759 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,438,131. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.48. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.54% and a net margin of 15.54%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

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.