AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 256,053 Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) by 57.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,730 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock after selling 256,053 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.13% of Akamai Technologies worth $18,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $477,454,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,116,398 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $489,383,000 after buying an additional 690,341 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 595.3% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 318,912 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $30,504,000 after acquiring an additional 273,043 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 778,208 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $74,473,000 after acquiring an additional 235,394 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,861,845 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $178,085,000 after acquiring an additional 163,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Adam Karon sold 3,927 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total transaction of $333,873.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,809 shares in the company, valued at $918,981.18. The trade was a 26.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton purchased 37,670 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $79.58 per share, with a total value of $2,997,778.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,929,676.36. The trade was a 37.79 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,321 shares of company stock worth $2,986,916. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AKAM shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Akamai Technologies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Craig Hallum cut Akamai Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.05.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AKAM traded down $8.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,831,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,925,699. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.51 and a 52 week high of $106.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.35.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

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.