Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Upgraded at Guggenheim

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC raised Akamai Technologies from a reduce rating to a hold rating and set a $96.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $92.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $130.00 to $129.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $114.44.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 0.4 %

Akamai Technologies stock opened at $98.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.25 and a quick ratio of 3.25. The company has a market capitalization of $14.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.67. Akamai Technologies has a one year low of $87.59 and a one year high of $129.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $92.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.29.

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

Akamai Technologies declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 9th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology infrastructure company to reacquire up to 13.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Anthony P. Williams sold 5,000 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.58, for a total value of $467,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,938 shares in the company, valued at $929,998.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.54, for a total value of $93,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,358,107.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony P. Williams sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.58, for a total transaction of $467,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,998.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $826,460. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKAM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,242,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,354,428 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $147,308,000 after acquiring an additional 222,290 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 409.2% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 248,045 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $26,977,000 after acquiring an additional 199,334 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,472,311 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $174,248,000 after acquiring an additional 186,124 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 912,409 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $107,984,000 after acquiring an additional 176,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

About Akamai Technologies

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.