Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Short Interest Update

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,460,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the August 15th total of 7,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 5.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 0.8 %

Akamai Technologies stock opened at $99.29 on Tuesday. Akamai Technologies has a one year low of $87.59 and a one year high of $129.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.73 and its 200 day moving average is $98.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.05. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 16.01% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $979.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $977.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Akamai Technologies will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In other Akamai Technologies news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $100,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,719 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,104.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $100,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,684,104.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.69, for a total value of $251,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,216,186.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $741,655 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $325,242,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,732,750 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $156,088,000 after purchasing an additional 347,626 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,354,428 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $147,308,000 after purchasing an additional 222,290 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 409.2% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 248,045 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $26,977,000 after purchasing an additional 199,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,472,311 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $174,248,000 after purchasing an additional 186,124 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Akamai Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $128.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.47.

Akamai Technologies Company Profile

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.