Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Weak Earnings

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $82.67 and last traded at $82.79, with a volume of 4733173 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.03.

The technology infrastructure company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.33). Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AKAM. Bank of America lowered shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday. HSBC raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.84.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.38, for a total value of $93,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,840.22. This trade represents a 5.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 10,782 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.71, for a total transaction of $1,064,291.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,255,196.36. This trade represents a 45.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,782 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,951. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 702 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,836 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 85.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,991 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.60 and a 200 day moving average of $97.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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.