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 January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,080,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the January 15th total of 9,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Approximately 6.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AKAM. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have 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 $117.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akamai Technologies

In other Akamai Technologies news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.38, for a total transaction of $93,380.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,719 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,840.22. This represents a 5.98 % 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, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 10,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.71, for a total transaction of $1,064,291.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,255,196.36. The trade was a 45.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,782 shares of company stock worth $1,523,951 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,116,398 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $489,383,000 after purchasing an additional 690,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $477,454,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,197,009 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $423,066,000 after purchasing an additional 202,746 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,215,735 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $211,935,000 after purchasing an additional 58,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,140,257 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $205,743,000 after purchasing an additional 138,380 shares during the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKAM opened at $100.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $96.62 and its 200 day moving average is $97.91. The company has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.59, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.65. Akamai Technologies has a 52 week low of $84.70 and a 52 week high of $114.67.

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.