Akamai Technologies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 10,603 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 49% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,111 put options.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AKAM stock opened at $73.46 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.06. Akamai Technologies has a one year low of $67.51 and a one year high of $106.80. The firm has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 14.35%. On average, analysts expect that Akamai Technologies will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Mani Sundaram sold 10,683 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $924,293.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,075,441.76. This represents a 30.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO F Thomson Leighton purchased 37,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $79.58 per share, for a total transaction of $2,997,778.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,929,676.36. This trade represents a 37.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,394 shares of company stock valued at $2,653,043 over the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $548,000. Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 5.1% during the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,128 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 13.2% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 14,577 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Akamai Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $483,000. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 124.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,502 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 11,943 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKAM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price target on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.75.

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.