Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Stock Price

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology infrastructure company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.51% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America cut Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Craig Hallum downgraded Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.75.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKAM traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 410,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,912,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.21 and a 200 day moving average of $92.38. Akamai Technologies has a twelve month low of $67.51 and a twelve month high of $106.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO F Thomson Leighton acquired 37,670 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,929,676.36. The trade was a 37.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 6,431 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.49, for a total value of $517,631.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,146,097.11. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,394 shares of company stock worth $2,653,043 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 24.6% during the first quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 37,034 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $2,980,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 595.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,085 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 9,108 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 34,504 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $2,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,931 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akamai Technologies Company 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.