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

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)’s share price gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

AKAM has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Monday, December 29th. HSBC lifted their target price on Akamai Technologies from $130.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Akamai Technologies to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Seven equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akamai Technologies news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $301,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 24,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,099,260. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $289,836.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $679,630.50. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,818 shares of company stock worth $2,099,904. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

More Akamai Technologies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Akamai Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley completed a rare double-upgrade on AKAM, moving the stock from “underweight” to “overweight” and lifting its price target to $115 (from $83), creating a fresh catalyst for institutional buying and a sizable implied upside. Cybersecurity Stock Pops on Rare Double Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised the Q4 EPS estimate for Akamai, which supports near-term earnings momentum and reinforces the buy-side narrative around improving profitability. Q4 EPS Estimate for Akamai Technologies Boosted by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and roundups summarizing where Akamai stands with analysts have circulated, increasing visibility and retail/institutional attention but not introducing new fundamental data. Where Akamai Technologies Stands…
• Neutral Sentiment: Mainstream outlets reported the sharp intraday move (“shares skyrocket”), which reflects the market reaction to analyst upgrades and coverage rather than new operational announcements. That media attention can amplify flows but is secondary to the upgrade/estimate changes. Akamai Technologies (AKAM) Shares Skyrocket, What You Need To Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data for January appears anomalous (showing zero shares / NaN change), so it provides no actionable signal; treat the short-interest print as unreliable until corrected. (Data entry reported 0 shares and 0.0 days-to-cover.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research published a FY2027 earnings forecast for AKAM; investors should watch for whether Zacks or other sell-side revisions materially lift consensus beyond current guidance. What is Zacks Research’s Forecast for AKAM FY2027 Earnings?

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 37,935 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 45,587 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 20,995 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,832,000 after buying an additional 9,427 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. Institutional investors own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 3.6%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.22. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 12.26%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. Akamai Technologies’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts expect 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.