Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Raised to Buy at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Guggenheim currently has $128.00 price target on the technology infrastructure company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on AKAM. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Akamai Technologies from $138.00 to $119.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Akamai Technologies in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They issued a sector outperform rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Akamai Technologies from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Akamai Technologies from a moderate sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Akamai Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $114.44.

Akamai Technologies Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock opened at $95.44 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.24. Akamai Technologies has a 52-week low of $87.59 and a 52-week high of $129.17. The firm has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a current ratio of 3.25.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $986.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $989.03 million. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 16.12%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Akamai Technologies will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Akamai Technologies announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 9th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology infrastructure company to reacquire up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akamai Technologies news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total value of $265,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 24,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,184,559.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total value of $265,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 24,729 shares in the company, valued at $2,184,559.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.68 per share, for a total transaction of $2,038,960.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,342,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,114,114.28. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $826,460 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 170.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 306 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Company Profile

Akamai Technologies, Inc provides cloud computing, security, and content delivery services in the United States and internationally. The company offers cloud solutions to keep infrastructure, websites, applications, application programming interfaces, and users safe from various cyberattacks and online threats while enhancing performance.