F Thomson Leighton Acquires 37,670 Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Stock

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 37,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $79.58 per share, with a total value of $2,997,778.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 137,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,929,676.36. This trade represents a 37.79 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Akamai Technologies Stock Down 2.1 %

AKAM stock traded down $1.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $77.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,707,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,565,188. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.08 and its 200-day moving average is $97.55. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.50 and a 12 month high of $113.36. The company has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 86.9% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 44,390 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $4,481,000 after purchasing an additional 20,633 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 200,458 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $20,236,000 after buying an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 892,356 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $90,083,000 after purchasing an additional 11,272 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 49.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,746 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 32.6% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 188,388 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $19,018,000 after purchasing an additional 46,335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AKAM has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer upgraded Akamai Technologies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.55.

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.