Short Interest in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Increases By 6.5%

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,050,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 11,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. HSBC lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.27.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $76.08. 7,826,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,372,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.40 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.07. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.61%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $883,199.20. This trade represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $2,688,621.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 4,008.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 756,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,522,000 after purchasing an additional 737,833 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,419,690,000 after buying an additional 608,596 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Fastenal by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,794,000 after buying an additional 517,172 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by 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.