Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AKAM. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Akamai Technologies from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $128.00 target price 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 issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.47.

Insider Transactions at Akamai Technologies

In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of Akamai Technologies 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 owns 16,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,684,104.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Akamai Technologies news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were 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 owns 22,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,216,186.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $100,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,684,104.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $741,655 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 170.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 306 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 224.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 448 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AKAM opened at $97.87 on Wednesday. Akamai Technologies has a 52-week low of $87.59 and a 52-week high of $129.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.68.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $979.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $977.67 million. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 16.01% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.