Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Short Interest Update

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,910,000 shares, an increase of 11.3% from the July 31st total of 7,110,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AKAM. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. 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 note on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.47.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock opened at $101.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.95 and its 200 day moving average is $99.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.67. Akamai Technologies has a 1 year low of $87.59 and a 1 year high of $129.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

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 firm had revenue of $979.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $977.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Akamai Technologies announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 repurchase up to 13.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Akamai Technologies

In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $100,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,684,104.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $100,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,684,104.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.69, for a total value of $251,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,010 shares in the company, valued at $2,216,186.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,500 shares of company stock worth $617,475. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 52.7% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 4,910 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 1.0% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,411,028 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $127,105,000 after acquiring an additional 14,347 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Akamai Technologies by 0.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 106,970 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $9,636,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 335.0% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 10,819 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,131,061 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $191,966,000 after purchasing an additional 28,135 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.