William Blair Weighs in on Fastenal’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:FAST)

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) – Investment analysts at William Blair cut their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for Fastenal in a research report issued on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now expects that the company will earn $0.53 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.55. The consensus estimate for Fastenal’s current full-year earnings is $2.15 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Fastenal’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.53 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.32 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on FAST. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Fastenal Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $69.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.74 and its 200 day moving average is $66.08. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FAST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $405,513,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 1st quarter worth about $195,459,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,092,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492,722 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,060,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505,936 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related 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 transaction of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.23%.

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.