Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price target lifted by Robert W. Baird from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $80.45 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.50. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The firm has a market cap of $46.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, EVP William Joseph Drazkowski sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.31, for a total transaction of $1,219,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $487,616.07. The trade was a 71.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.