National Pension Service Raises Stock Position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

National Pension Service lifted its position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 595.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,912 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after buying an additional 273,043 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.21% of Akamai Technologies worth $30,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 86.9% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 44,390 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after buying an additional 20,633 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 200,458 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $20,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $90,083,000 after purchasing an additional 11,272 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 49.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 32.6% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

AKAM opened at $80.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.25. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.50 and a 1 year high of $113.36. The stock has a market cap of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AKAM. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akamai Technologies news, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 10,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.71, for a total transaction of $1,064,291.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,255,196.36. This represents a 45.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.57, for a total transaction of $366,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,115,633.28. This represents a 14.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Akamai Technologies 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.