Fastly (NASDAQ:FSLY) Stock Price Up 9.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Fastly shares rose 9.7% to $17.82, while trading volume was 95% below its average.
• Analyst views are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $26. Recent quarterly earnings beat estimates, with EPS of $0.17 versus $0.12 expected and revenue of $190.19 million versus $187.82 million expected.
• Company insiders sold about 1.32 million shares worth $35.45 million over the past three months; insiders retain 4.2% ownership.

Fastly, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLY - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 9.7% on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $17.44 and last traded at $17.8180. 442,787 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 8,861,804 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FSLY shares. Freedom Broker cut their target price on shares of Fastly from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Fastly in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Fastly from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Fastly in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Fastly from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Fastly Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business's fifty day moving average price is $23.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.10 and a beta of 0.22.

Fastly (NASDAQ:FSLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $190.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.82 million. Fastly had a negative net margin of 8.74% and a negative return on equity of 4.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fastly, Inc. will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Fastly news, CTO Artur Bergman sold 379,602 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.16, for a total value of $11,448,796.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,138,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,332,877.28. This represents a 25.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Compton, III sold 55,579 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.39, for a total value of $1,188,834.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 914,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,555,486.65. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,323,893 shares of company stock worth $35,452,889. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Fastly

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Fastly by 100.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,031,952 shares of the company's stock worth $204,349,000 after buying an additional 3,524,763 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fastly by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 5,509,813 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,437,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071,858 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Fastly by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,741,549 shares of the company's stock worth $79,620,000 after purchasing an additional 11,022 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Fastly by 120.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,269,369 shares of the company's stock worth $36,888,000 after purchasing an additional 692,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Fastly in the 2nd quarter worth $8,696,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.71% of the company's stock.

Fastly Company Profile

Fastly, Inc. provides an edge cloud platform that helps businesses deliver and secure websites, applications, and digital content. Its services include content delivery, web application and API protection, DDoS mitigation, bot management, and tools for monitoring and analyzing internet traffic. The company also offers edge computing through Fastly Compute, which lets developers run code closer to users. Fastly's platform is designed to help organizations improve the speed, reliability, and security of online services, and it serves customers across multiple industries and geographies.

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