Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Rating Lowered to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has downgraded Akamai Technologies from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating, with a new price target of $85.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.58% from its current stock price.
• Despite the downgrade, Akamai's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.70, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.58, and the company's revenue rose by 2.9% year-over-year.
• Research analysts have varying ratings on Akamai, with three analysts giving a sell rating, and the consensus rating being "Hold" with an average price target of $99.58.

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $85.00 target price on the technology infrastructure company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Akamai Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp began coverage on Akamai Technologies in a report on Friday, June 6th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $63.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Akamai Technologies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akamai Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.42.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AKAM stock traded down $4.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $70.53. 5,400,278 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,658,531. Akamai Technologies has a 52 week low of $67.51 and a 52 week high of $106.80. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $78.12 and its 200-day moving average is $81.58.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.18. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kim Salem-Jackson sold 13,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.33, for a total transaction of $1,004,273.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,326,079.75. The trade was a 23.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total value of $388,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,514,811.26. This represents a 13.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 50.8% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 395 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 438 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 198.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 474 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 766.1% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 485 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is owned by 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.