First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 690,341 Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,116,398 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock after acquiring an additional 690,341 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 3.41% of Akamai Technologies worth $489,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new position in Akamai Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $252,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 12,218 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 425,214 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $40,656,000 after purchasing an additional 25,440 shares during the period. Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $574,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,367 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

NASDAQ AKAM traded up $2.74 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $78.61. 721,977 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,490,110. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.97 and a 200-day moving average of $91.32. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $67.51 and a one year high of $106.80. The stock has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.33). Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 12.65%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Mani Sundaram sold 10,683 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $924,293.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,075,441.76. The trade was a 30.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton purchased 37,670 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $79.58 per share, for a total transaction of $2,997,778.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,342 shares in the company, valued at $10,929,676.36. The trade was a 37.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,394 shares of company stock valued at $2,653,043. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AKAM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen downgraded Akamai Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James lowered their price target on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.75.

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.