Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $88.12, but opened at $93.74. Morgan Stanley now has a $115.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $83.00. Akamai Technologies shares last traded at $91.5570, with a volume of 845,284 shares.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Akamai Technologies from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. President Capital increased their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Monday, November 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Akamai Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akamai Technologies news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $301,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 24,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,099,260. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 6,560 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.03, for a total value of $577,476.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,447,389.26. This represents a 28.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,099,904 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 101.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,087 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Akamai Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $266,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 73.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,134 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 3,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies during the first quarter worth $313,000. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 4.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.15.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.22. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 12.26%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. Akamai Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Akamai Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.930-7.130 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.850 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Akamai Technologies Company Profile

Akamai Technologies, Inc is a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) services and cloud security solutions designed to optimize and safeguard digital experiences. Leveraging a globally distributed platform, the company accelerates web and mobile content delivery for enterprises, media companies, e-commerce platforms and government agencies. Its edge computing architecture brings processing power closer to end users, reducing latency and improving application performance across geographies.

The company’s core offerings include content acceleration, web and mobile performance optimization, media delivery, and a suite of cybersecurity solutions that protect against DDoS attacks, application-layer threats and bot-driven fraud.