Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.26.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AKAM. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO F Thomson Leighton purchased 37,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $79.58 per share, for a total transaction of $2,997,778.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,929,676.36. The trade was a 37.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 4,652 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.48, for a total transaction of $402,304.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,984,424.80. This represents a 11.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,321 shares of company stock valued at $2,986,916 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKAM. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Akamai Technologies by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,746 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $827,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $617,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $88,213,000 after purchasing an additional 29,888 shares during the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock traded up $2.05 on Friday, hitting $77.89. 1,845,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,009,986. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $77.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. Akamai Technologies has a 12-month low of $67.51 and a 12-month high of $106.80.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Analysts expect that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.