Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $6.50 Million Position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 5,019.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,796 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,628 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Akamai Technologies were worth $6,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKAM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Akamai Technologies by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,763,963 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,932,009,000 after purchasing an additional 124,359 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Akamai Technologies by 1.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 32,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,242,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Akamai Technologies by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,472,311 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $174,248,000 after purchasing an additional 186,124 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Akamai Technologies by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,339,978 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $158,596,000 after purchasing an additional 146,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKAM traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $96.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 551,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,679,667. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.59 and a fifty-two week high of $129.17. The company has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.25 and a quick ratio of 3.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.29.

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

Akamai Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 9th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology infrastructure company to repurchase up to 13.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Akamai Technologies

In other news, EVP Anthony P. Williams sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.58, for a total transaction of $467,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,998.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Anthony P. Williams sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.58, for a total value of $467,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,998.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton acquired 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.68 per share, with a total value of $2,038,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,342,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,114,114.28. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $826,460. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKAM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Akamai Technologies from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Akamai Technologies from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $92.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum reduced their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.65.

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.