Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target Lowered to $82.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 6.20% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded up $1.13 on Tuesday, reaching $77.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,455,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,173,283. The company has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.02. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $77.75 and a 200-day moving average of $73.17. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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