FASTENAL CO
In the published model solve dated 2026-Q2, anchored at $49.79, FASTENAL CO (FAST) is priced for +28.8% growth. boothcheck publishes no house fair value, target price, or buy/sell rating; individual model outputs and user-controlled scenarios are analytical inputs, not Boothcheck targets. The narrative was composed July 26, 2026 from SEC EDGAR filings.
• The product that matters here is hardware bolted inside the customer's factory rather than the fastener that comes out of it: 25,892 weighted vending and bin units were signed during 2025, and the company reckons the market could eventually hold as many as 1.7 million such units. • The largest risk is arithmetic rather than operational: today's quote embeds operating profit compounding around 28% a year, while the operating margin moved twenty basis points in 2025 and the sales line grows in
Is FAST overvalued? See what's priced in →
1,376 institutional managers reported holding FAST in 13F filings for the quarter ended 2026-03-31. Together they hold about 82% of the company; the top 10 hold 43%. 128 opened new positions that quarter. Held by Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street, among others. On the short side, 31.3M shares were sold short as of the 2026-06-15 count, about 3% of shares outstanding (4.8 days of typical volume to cover).
Quarterly 13F filings arrive up to 45 days after quarter end, so the picture is never current (filed through 2026-05-29). Nothing here is investment advice.
FAST's share count is about flat over the past five years ($258.10M of repurchases, offset by issuance). It pays a dividend, and has paid one every year in our records (18 and counting); the current rate is $0.88 a share annually. Cash returned over the past three years: $2.79B in dividends and $20.30M in repurchases.
Share counts are split-adjusted; repurchase totals are gross of share issuance. Nothing here is investment advice.
Open-market insider buys at FAST over the trailing three years: 2023: 1 buy totaling $29k; 2024: 3 buys totaling $292k; 2025: 7 buys totaling $214k. 21 officers and directors are on file.
Code P open-market purchases from SEC Form 4 filings, non-derivative, excluding scheduled 10b5-1 plans. Nothing here is investment advice.
FAST's recent reports: the day-one move, then what the following quarter actually did.
| report | day one | next quarter |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-07-19 | -2.1% | -5.2% |
| 2023-10-18 | +7.4% | +10.0% |
| 2024-02-07 | +9.4% | +7.6% |
| 2024-04-17 | -5.7% | -5.1% |
Day-one is the close-to-close move around the filing. Nothing here is investment advice.
FAST's latest 8-K filings: 2026-07-14 (items 2.02, 9.01); 2026-06-23 (items 1.01, 2.03, 9.01); 2026-06-12 (items 5.02); 2026-04-29 (items 5.02, 9.01); 2026-04-24 (items 5.07, 9.01).
Item codes are the SEC's own classification of what each report discloses. Dates link to the filing on EDGAR. Nothing here is investment advice.
Model solve date: 2026-Q2
Narrative composed: July 26, 2026
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.