Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.44.

A number of analysts have recently commented on AKAM shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $92.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. HSBC upgraded Akamai Technologies from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Akamai Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $128.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Akamai Technologies Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of AKAM stock opened at $94.56 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.27 and a 200 day moving average of $103.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.67. Akamai Technologies has a twelve month low of $87.59 and a twelve month high of $129.17.

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

Akamai Technologies declared that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 13.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Akamai Technologies

In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction of $265,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 24,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,184,559.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 approximately $217,114,114.28. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,184,559.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $826,460. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 131.6% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 19,433 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 11,044 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Akamai Technologies by 190.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,579 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $8,708,000 after purchasing an additional 48,236 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Akamai Technologies by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 480,908 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $56,915,000 after purchasing an additional 15,890 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,245,000. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,441,000. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.