Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,867 Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,591 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after selling 6,867 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Akamai Technologies worth $18,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 10.1% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,470,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,201 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AKAM shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America cut Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.55.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.38, for a total transaction of $93,380.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,840.22. This represents a 5.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.57, for a total value of $366,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,115,633.28. This trade represents a 14.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,782 shares of company stock worth $1,523,951. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AKAM opened at $77.65 on Tuesday. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.50 and a 12-month high of $113.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.75 and a 200-day moving average of $97.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.65.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 14.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.