Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Akamai Technologies from $140.00 to $117.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen decreased 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. Finally, Craig Hallum raised Akamai Technologies from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Akamai Technologies currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $116.00.

Akamai Technologies Trading Down 1.9 %

AKAM opened at $99.58 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $87.59 and a one year high of $129.17. The company has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.71.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 16.12%. The firm had revenue of $979.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $977.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Akamai Technologies will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Akamai Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 9th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology infrastructure company to purchase up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 related news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,184,559.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $93,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,358,107.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKAM. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.3% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,253 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 16.8% in the second quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,729 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Westport Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 66.7% in the second quarter. Westport Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,000 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 0.9% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 13,904 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 10.3% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,628 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.