The stock of Fastenal Co. (FAST) has gone down by -0.91% for the week, with a -0.07% drop in the past month and a 22.44% rise in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 1.53%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are 1.50% for FAST. The simple moving average for the last 20 days is -0.53% for FAST’s stock, with a simple moving average of 21.53% for the last 200 days.
Is It Worth Investing in Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) Right Now?
Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65x compared to its average ratio. FAST has 36-month beta value of 1.04. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 3 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 6 as “overweight,” 9 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”
The public float for FAST is 571.27M, and currently, short sellers hold a 3.21% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of FAST on April 09, 2024 was 3.95M shares.
FAST) stock’s latest price update
The stock price of Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) has dropped by -0.97 compared to previous close of 76.63. Despite this, the company has seen a fall of -0.91% in its stock price over the last five trading days. Zacks Investment Research reported 2024-04-08 that In short, don’t expect our present hesitation to last very long.
Analysts’ Opinion of FAST
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for FAST stocks, with HSBC Securities repeating the rating for FAST by listing it as a “Hold.” The predicted price for FAST in the upcoming period, according to HSBC Securities is $59 based on the research report published on September 15, 2023 of the previous year 2023.
Stephens, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see FAST reach a price target of $60. The rating they have provided for FAST stocks is “Equal-Weight” according to the report published on July 13th, 2023.
Stifel gave a rating of “Buy” to FAST, setting the target price at $61 in the report published on April 04th of the previous year.
FAST Trading at 3.77% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought FAST to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -3.99% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 1.50%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 1.53%, as shares surge +0.34% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading +9.65% upper at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, FAST fell by -0.91%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +31.66% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $76.31. In addition, Fastenal Co. saw 17.17% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further gains.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at FAST starting from Miller Charles S., who sale 11,076 shares at the price of $75.16 back on Mar 15 ’24. After this action, Miller Charles S. now owns 0 shares of Fastenal Co., valued at $832,453 using the latest closing price.
Watts Jeffery Michael, the CHIEF SALES OFFICER of Fastenal Co., sale 19,420 shares at $70.25 during a trade that took place back on Feb 20 ’24, which means that Watts Jeffery Michael is holding 5,940 shares at $1,364,208 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for FAST
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.21 for the present operating margin
- 0.45 for the gross margin
The net margin for Fastenal Co. stands at 0.16. The total capital return value is set at 0.4. Equity return is now at value 35.47, with 25.63 for asset returns.
Based on Fastenal Co. (FAST), the company’s capital structure generated 0.1 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 4.02. The debt to equity ratio resting at 0.11. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 140.25.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 1.71 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 0.18. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 5.96. The receivables turnover for the company is 6.75for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 1.65. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 4.57.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Fastenal Co. (FAST) has had a mixed performance in recent times. Analysts have a mixed opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It is worth mentioning that the stock is currently trading in close proximity to its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
