Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires Shares of 43,178 Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 43,178 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock, valued at approximately $3,476,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 690,341 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 234.0% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 595,569 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $47,943,000 after purchasing an additional 417,260 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the first quarter worth about $21,626,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 5,951.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 253,978 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $20,445,000 after purchasing an additional 249,781 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 43.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.28% of the company's stock.

Akamai Technologies Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock traded down $1.93 on Friday, reaching $74.38. 2,534,091 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,394,008. The company has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.77. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.51 and a 52 week high of $106.80. The firm's 50-day moving average is $78.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.31. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.12. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 11.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kim Salem-Jackson sold 13,157 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.33, for a total value of $1,004,273.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,575 shares in the company, valued at $3,326,079.75. This trade represents a 23.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 3,927 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $333,873.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $918,981.18. This represents a 26.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,084 shares of company stock worth $1,726,847 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AKAM. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Akamai Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed 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, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.84.

Akamai Technologies 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.