Citigroup Lowers Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Price Target to $117.00

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $140.00 to $117.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the technology infrastructure company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.07% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AKAM. HSBC lowered shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $109.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akamai Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.60.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock opened at $101.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.72. Akamai Technologies has a 52 week low of $76.85 and a 52 week high of $129.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.27.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $995.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.09 million. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akamai Technologies

In other Akamai Technologies news, COO Adam Karon sold 14,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.78, for a total value of $1,575,233.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $735,196.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Kim Salem-Jackson sold 2,600 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.30, for a total transaction of $320,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,410,847.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 14,349 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.78, for a total value of $1,575,233.22. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $735,196.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,353 shares of company stock valued at $3,688,883. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 84,796 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $9,222,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC increased its position in Akamai Technologies by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 16,980 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,650 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Akamai Technologies by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,321 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its position in Akamai Technologies by 150.0% during the 1st quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 25,000 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $1,379,000. 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.