Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) had its target price raised by Scotiabank from $110.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector outperform rating on the technology infrastructure company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $117.00 to $106.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Akamai Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $116.00.

Akamai Technologies Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of AKAM opened at $99.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.67. Akamai Technologies has a twelve month low of $87.59 and a twelve month high of $129.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.71.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 15.02%. The company had revenue of $979.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Akamai Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Akamai Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 9th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology infrastructure company to reacquire up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction of $265,020.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 24,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,184,559.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Akamai Technologies news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total value of $265,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 24,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,184,559.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.54, for a total value of $93,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,358,107.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 19.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 41,034 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $4,462,000 after acquiring an additional 6,724 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 131.6% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 19,433 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 11,044 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 190.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,579 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $8,708,000 after purchasing an additional 48,236 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 480,908 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $56,915,000 after buying an additional 15,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC bought a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,245,000. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.