Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,458 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after buying an additional 7,595 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Akamai Technologies were worth $6,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,197,009 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $423,066,000 after purchasing an additional 202,746 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,140,257 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $205,743,000 after buying an additional 138,380 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.3% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,499,760 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $151,401,000 after buying an additional 88,732 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 922,244 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $88,213,000 after buying an additional 29,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 911,528 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $87,188,000 after acquiring an additional 74,373 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In other news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.57, for a total value of $366,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,115,633.28. The trade was a 14.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton acquired 37,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $79.58 per share, with a total value of $2,997,778.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 137,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,929,676.36. This trade represents a 37.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,394 shares of company stock worth $3,019,323. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AKAM opened at $81.04 on Monday. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.50 and a 52 week high of $110.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $12.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.21.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 12.65%. On average, analysts expect that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $125.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered Akamai Technologies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.55.

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.