Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Short Interest Down 14.1% in February

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,820,000 shares, a decline of 14.1% from the February 13th total of 10,270,000 shares. Currently, 6.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Akamai Technologies Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock opened at $81.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $90.74 and its 200 day moving average is $95.42. Akamai Technologies has a 1 year low of $75.50 and a 1 year high of $110.18.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKAM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Craig Hallum downgraded Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut their target price on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup cut 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, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Aaron Ahola sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.92, for a total value of $323,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,074.12. This represents a 13.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 37,670 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 37.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,394 shares of company stock worth $3,019,323. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 702 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,991 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,912,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,860 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,867 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Capital Management LLC grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

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.