Swiss National Bank Reduces Stake in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Akamai Technologies by 1.0%, holding approximately 423,700 shares worth $34.1 million after selling 4,300 shares in the first quarter.
• A number of institutional investors have recently adjusted their positions in Akamai, with Bright Jones LLC increasing its holdings by 101.4% and several others making new investments in the company.
• Analyst ratings for Akamai have shifted, with some brokerages upgrading it to a "buy" rating, while others have lowered target prices, reflecting mixed sentiment among investment analysts.

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 423,700 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock after selling 4,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Akamai Technologies worth $34,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AKAM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $1,503,205,000 after buying an additional 425,461 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 15.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,483,991 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $199,961,000 after buying an additional 56,411 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,215,735 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $211,935,000 after buying an additional 58,013 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,861,845 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $178,085,000 after buying an additional 163,472 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AKAM stock traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $74.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,643,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,906. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.51 and a fifty-two week high of $106.80. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $77.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.09.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.18. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies, Inc. 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 company'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,326,079.75. This represents a 23.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total value of $388,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,514,811.26. The trade was a 13.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AKAM shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, June 6th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $63.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "sell" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.89.

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.