The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “sell” rating and a $67.00 price target on the technology infrastructure company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 9.79% from the stock’s previous close.

AKAM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday, June 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $63.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.89.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Akamai Technologies stock opened at $74.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.31. Akamai Technologies has a 1 year low of $67.51 and a 1 year high of $106.80.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 1,921.3% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 281,419 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $22,446,000 after purchasing an additional 267,496 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,556,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 625.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 61,731 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $4,924,000 after buying an additional 53,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 271,552 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $21,649,000 after buying an additional 99,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

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.