Robert W. Baird Cuts Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target to $71.00

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) had its target price lowered by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $77.00 to $71.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.78% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $70.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.91. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $50.30 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 4.83.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $826,988.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,392.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 131.7% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.