Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,959 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after selling 990 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Akamai Technologies were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 101.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 7,883 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,367 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

AKAM stock opened at $74.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.85 and a 200-day moving average of $80.92. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.51 and a 12-month high of $106.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.76.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.18. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kim Salem-Jackson sold 13,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.33, for a total transaction of $1,004,273.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,326,079.75. This trade represents a 23.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $388,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,811.26. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AKAM shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Akamai Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, June 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $63.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akamai Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.89.

Akamai Technologies 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.