19.03% percent quarterly performance for Fastenal Co (FAST) is not indicative of the underlying story

Fastenal Co (NASDAQ: FAST) on Friday, plunged -0.87% from the previous trading day, before settling in for the closing price of $81.76. Within the past 52 weeks, FAST’s price has moved between $61.05 and $84.88.

During the last 5-year period, the sales growth of Industrials Sector giant was 8.22%. The company achieved an average annual earnings per share of 0.60%. With a float of $571.76 million, this company’s outstanding shares have now reached $572.88 million.

Let’s determine the extent of company efficiency that accounts for 23201 employees. In terms of profitability, gross margin is 43.6%, operating margin of 20.31%, and the pretax margin is 20.29%.

Fastenal Co (FAST) Insider Activity

Observing investor behavior towards Industrial Distribution industry stocks is more important than anything else. The insider ownership of Fastenal Co is 0.20%, while institutional ownership is 83.06%. The most recent insider transaction that took place on Nov 22 ’24, was worth 1,625,279. In this transaction Executive Vice President of this company sold 19,564 shares at a rate of $83.08, taking the stock ownership to the 26,176 shares. Before that another transaction happened on Nov 22 ’24, when Company’s Officer proposed sale 19,564 for $83.08, making the entire transaction worth $1,625,279.

Fastenal Co (FAST) Earnings and Forecasts

Wall Street market experts anticipate that the next fiscal year will bring earnings of 0.52 per share during the current fiscal year.

According to the Wall Street analysts, stocks earnings will be around 0.60% per share during the next fiscal year. For the long-term projections, market analysts anticipate that the company’s EPS will surge by 7.79% during the next five years compared to 9.01% growth over the previous five years of trading.

Fastenal Co (NASDAQ: FAST) Trading Performance Indicators

Fastenal Co (FAST) is currently performing well based on its current performance indicators. A quick ratio of 2.29 was reported for the most recent quarter. In addition, a publicly-traded company’s price to sales ratio for the trailing twelve months stands at 6.15. Likewise, its price to free cash flow for the trailing twelve months is 44.18.

For the trailing twelve months, Company’s Diluted EPS (Earnings per Share) is 2.01, a number that is poised to hit 0.48 in the next quarter and is forecasted to reach 2.19 in one year’s time.

Technical Analysis of Fastenal Co (FAST)

Looking closely at Fastenal Co (NASDAQ: FAST), its last 5-days average volume was 2.41 million, which is a drop from its year-to-date volume of 3.25 million. As of the previous 9 days, the stock’s Stochastic %D was 8.85%. Additionally, its Average True Range was 1.25.

During the past 100 days, Fastenal Co’s (FAST) raw stochastic average was set at 81.58%, which indicates a significant increase from 8.20% during the past two weeks. Based on volatility metrics of the stock, it showed a historical volatility of 9.60% in the past 14 days, which was lower than the 24.94% volatility it showed in the past 100 days.

At the time of writing, stock’s 50-day Moving Average is $78.38, while its 200-day Moving Average is $71.21. However, in the short run, Fastenal Co’s stock first resistance to watch stands at $81.82. Second resistance stands at $82.59. The third major resistance level sits at $83.09. If the price goes on to break the first support level at $80.55, it is likely to go to the next support level at $80.05. Should the price break the second support level, the third support level stands at $79.28.

Fastenal Co (NASDAQ: FAST) Key Stats

Market capitalization of the company is 46.03 billion based on 572,886K outstanding shares. Right now, sales total 7,347 M and income totals 1,155 M. The company made 1,910 M in profit during its latest quarter, and 298,100 K in sales during its previous quarter.