Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Cut to Reduce at HSBC

HSBC cut shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $70.00 price objective on the stock.

FAST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.40.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $78.47 on Wednesday. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.33 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.28. The company has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total transaction of $37,244.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This trade represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,639,438 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Fastenal by 1.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 8,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 9,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.