Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Stock Jumps 7.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Akamai shares jumped 7.6% to about $108.59 in Friday trading, although volume was 51% below the average daily level.
• Analysts raised several price targets, including JPMorgan to $167, President Capital to $168 and Piper Sandler to $158. Despite 13 Buy ratings, the consensus remains Hold, with a $150.10 target.
• Akamai’s latest quarterly results modestly beat expectations, with $1.59 EPS and $1.10 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 5.4% year over year. Insiders have sold $1.47 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 94.28% of shares.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) shares traded up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $106.25 and last traded at $108.5860. 2,274,220 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,648,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKAM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $158.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. President Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $150.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.10.

Akamai Technologies Stock Up 7.7%

The firm has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $111.20 and a 200-day moving average of $118.83.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.02. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 9.51%.The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Akamai Technologies has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.600-1.800 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-7.050 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 3,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $327,453.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,007,497.36. The trade was a 9.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Mani Sundaram sold 7,022 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.62, for a total value of $882,103.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,837,192.50. This trade represents a 32.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,135 shares of company stock worth $1,467,221. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKAM. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 146.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,445 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 260.6% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 696 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1,716.7% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,610 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $3,855,000 after acquiring an additional 30,815 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Akamai Technologies by 114.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,073 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 263.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 98,149 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $11,602,000 after buying an additional 71,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.28% of the company's stock.

About Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc NASDAQ: AKAM provides cloud computing, cybersecurity and content delivery services for businesses and public-sector organizations. Its distributed edge platform helps customers deliver websites, applications, media and other digital experiences while improving performance, availability and scalability.

The company's services include web and application performance optimization, content delivery, cloud infrastructure, application and API security, distributed denial-of-service protection, zero-trust security and bot management.

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