Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $51.43, but opened at $47.51. Fastenal shares last traded at $49.8840, with a volume of 2,614,677 shares changing hands.

Key Headlines Impacting Fastenal

Here are the key news stories impacting Fastenal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings beat expectations: Fastenal reported adjusted earnings of $0.35 per share, up from $0.29 a year earlier and ahead of the $0.34 consensus estimate. Net income rose to $401.6 million, helped by expense leverage and stronger operating performance. Fastenal Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Sales and customer growth remained strong: Revenue increased 15.5% year over year to $2.46 billion, modestly above the $2.44 billion analyst estimate in company earnings reports. Contract wins, pricing, industrial demand and growth with larger customers supported sales. Onsite, digital and supply-chain solutions also continued to expand. Fastenal Reports 2026 Third Quarter Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and analyst support: Fastenal declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equivalent to $1.04 annually and a yield of roughly 2%. Jefferies also raised its price target from $52 to $60, signaling greater confidence in the company’s earnings outlook. Fastenal Announces Dividend and Share Repurchase Activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed initial reaction: Fastenal was among stocks trading lower in the premarket, suggesting some investors were concerned that sales growth did not decisively exceed elevated expectations despite the earnings beat. The shares later moved higher as the profit improvement and revenue growth gained attention. Stocks Moving Lower in Wednesday’s Premarket Session
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation leaves limited room for disappointment: Fastenal trades at approximately 44 times earnings, with a PEG ratio above 3, making sustained sales growth and continued margin expansion important to support further upside.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FAST shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on Fastenal in a research report on Friday, August 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.92.

Fastenal Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.41. The stock has a market cap of $59.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 2.21.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 34.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Fastenal Company will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,105,454,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,417,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,561,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,395,000 after purchasing an additional 183,238 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the second quarter worth approximately $11,419,000. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1,073.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 203,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,092,000 after purchasing an additional 186,381 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies serving businesses, contractors, manufacturers and other organizations. Its product offerings include fasteners such as bolts, nuts and screws, as well as safety equipment, tools, cutting tools, material-handling products, electrical and plumbing supplies, and maintenance and repair items.

The company sells products through a network of branch locations, onsite customer facilities, industrial vending machines and digital platforms.