Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum upgraded Akamai Technologies from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday. Guggenheim raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $128.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a moderate sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Akamai Technologies from $130.00 to $129.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $116.00.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock opened at $99.58 on Friday. Akamai Technologies has a 52 week low of $87.59 and a 52 week high of $129.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.71. The company has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.05. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 15.02%. The firm had revenue of $979.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $977.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Akamai Technologies will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Akamai Technologies declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology infrastructure company to buy up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Akamai Technologies

In related news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total value of $265,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 24,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,184,559.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total value of $265,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 24,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,184,559.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.54, for a total value of $93,540.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,107.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 700 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,625 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 857 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,253 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 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.