Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $20.24 Million Stock Holdings in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,458 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Akamai Technologies worth $20,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 85.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 67.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 887 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.61, for a total value of $221,525.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 19,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,781.10. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 10,782 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.71, for a total transaction of $1,064,291.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,255,196.36. This represents a 45.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,282 shares of company stock worth $1,733,716 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AKAM stock opened at $97.96 on Friday. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.70 and a twelve month high of $129.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AKAM. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Akamai Technologies in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.85.

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.