Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Akamai Technologies Put Options (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 10,603 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 49% compared to the average volume of 7,111 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AKAM has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Akamai Technologies from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akamai Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.75.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKAM opened at $73.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.80. Akamai Technologies has a twelve month low of $67.51 and a twelve month high of $106.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 14.35%. Equities analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In related news, CEO F Thomson Leighton purchased 37,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $79.58 per share, with a total value of $2,997,778.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 137,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,929,676.36. This represents a 37.79 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 6,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.49, for a total transaction of $517,631.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,239 shares in the company, valued at $1,146,097.11. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,394 shares of company stock valued at $2,653,043 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 54.8% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 438 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 99.6% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 469 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in Akamai Technologies by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 554 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

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.