Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Akamai Technologies, Inc. $AKAM

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 30.8% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 273,645 shares worth about $31.4 million.
• Akamai’s recent quarterly results were in line with expectations, with EPS of $1.61 and revenue of $1.07 billion, while revenue rose 5.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock: several raised price targets, but the consensus rating is still “Hold” with an average target price of $145.29.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 273,645 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,425 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Akamai Technologies worth $31,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,172,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 132.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,960 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 14,792 shares in the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 148,104 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $12,922,000 after purchasing an additional 36,395 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 461,461 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $40,262,000 after purchasing an additional 216,222 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,393,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.28% of the company's stock.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AKAM stock opened at $120.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 2.06. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $165.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $134.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.95.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Akamai Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-7.150 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.450-1.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In other news, EVP Kim Salem-Jackson sold 2,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.57, for a total value of $311,811.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,027,099.70. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total value of $31,446.63. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 31,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,012,486.46. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AKAM shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $133.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Akamai Technologies from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.29.

Akamai Technologies Profile

Akamai Technologies, Inc is a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) services and cloud security solutions designed to optimize and safeguard digital experiences. Leveraging a globally distributed platform, the company accelerates web and mobile content delivery for enterprises, media companies, e-commerce platforms and government agencies. Its edge computing architecture brings processing power closer to end users, reducing latency and improving application performance across geographies.

The company's core offerings include content acceleration, web and mobile performance optimization, media delivery, and a suite of cybersecurity solutions that protect against DDoS attacks, application-layer threats and bot-driven fraud.

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