Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

AKAM has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Friday, June 6th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.25.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AKAM stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.05. The company had a trading volume of 489,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,552. The company has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.77. Akamai Technologies has a 12-month low of $67.51 and a 12-month high of $106.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.55 and a 200-day moving average of $83.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In related news, EVP Kim Salem-Jackson sold 13,157 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 43,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,326,079.75. This trade represents a 23.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 3,927 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $333,873.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,809 shares in the company, valued at $918,981.18. The trade was a 26.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $477,454,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1,001.4% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,753,400 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $141,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,206 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 15.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 690,341 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,673,358 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $1,503,205,000 after buying an additional 425,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 234.0% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 595,569 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $47,943,000 after acquiring an additional 417,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company's stock.

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.