Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Given New $59.00 Price Target at Argus

by · The Cerbat Gem

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Argus from $55.00 to $59.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Argus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.23% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on FAST. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.46.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Fastenal

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $51.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.61. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $38.97 and a 1-year high of $52.92. The firm has a market cap of $59.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,000. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth about $5,105,454,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,438,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,764,000 after acquiring an additional 869,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at approximately $859,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Fastenal by 12.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,292,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,395,000 after acquiring an additional 183,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.

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