Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,590,000 shares, a decrease of 16.2% from the March 15th total of 7,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Akamai Technologies Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKAM opened at $73.46 on Monday. Akamai Technologies has a 1-year low of $67.51 and a 1-year high of $106.80. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $81.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.76. The company has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.80.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.33). The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup cut their price target on Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Craig Hallum lowered shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $125.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Aaron Ahola sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.92, for a total transaction of $323,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,074.12. This represents a 13.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 37,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $79.58 per share, for a total transaction of $2,997,778.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,342 shares in the company, valued at $10,929,676.36. The trade was a 37.79 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,394 shares of company stock valued at $2,653,043. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,302 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,548 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 3,134 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $265,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Finally, Dohj LLC bought a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $346,000. 94.28% of the stock is 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.