Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Shares Sold by Leuthold Group LLC

Leuthold Group LLC cut its stake in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,970 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Akamai Technologies were worth $6,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,935,648 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $319,751,000 after buying an additional 32,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $325,242,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,472,311 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $174,248,000 after buying an additional 186,124 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,339,978 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $158,596,000 after acquiring an additional 146,778 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 912,409 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $107,984,000 after purchasing an additional 176,173 shares during the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKAM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Akamai Technologies from $136.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Akamai Technologies from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Akamai Technologies from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction of $265,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 24,729 shares in the company, valued at $2,184,559.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.68 per share, for a total transaction of $2,038,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,342,621 shares in the company, valued at $217,114,114.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction of $265,020.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 24,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,184,559.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $826,460. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AKAM traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $96.15. The company had a trading volume of 575,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,052. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.67. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.59 and a 12-month high of $129.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.03. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 16.12%. The business had revenue of $986.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $989.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Akamai Technologies announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 9th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology infrastructure company to reacquire up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.