StockNews.com Upgrades Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) to "Buy"

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AKAM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America cut Akamai Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Akamai Technologies in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.26.

Akamai Technologies Stock Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:AKAM traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $78.03. 3,468,842 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,993,243. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $78.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.77. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.23. Akamai Technologies has a twelve month low of $67.51 and a twelve 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 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 12.65%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akamai Technologies news, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 37,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $79.58 per share, with a total value of $2,997,778.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,929,676.36. This represents a 37.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Aaron Ahola sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.92, for a total transaction of $323,680.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,074.12. This trade represents a 13.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,321 shares of company stock valued at $2,986,916. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,673,358 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $1,503,205,000 after purchasing an additional 425,461 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 worth $489,383,000 after buying an additional 690,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $477,454,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,484,661 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $200,015,000 after buying an additional 160,665 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,483,991 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $199,961,000 after buying an additional 56,411 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently 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.