Needham Investment Management LLC Acquires 15,000 Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Needham Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 195,000 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Akamai Technologies comprises 1.4% of Needham Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Akamai Technologies were worth $18,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AKAM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $477,454,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 15.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 595.3% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 318,912 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $30,504,000 after purchasing an additional 273,043 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 778,208 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $74,473,000 after purchasing an additional 235,394 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Akamai Technologies by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,861,845 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $178,085,000 after purchasing an additional 163,472 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AKAM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Akamai Technologies from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reduced their target price on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.26.

Insider Activity

In other Akamai Technologies news, CEO F Thomson Leighton bought 37,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,929,676.36. This trade represents a 37.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mani Sundaram sold 10,683 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $924,293.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,075,441.76. The trade was a 30.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,321 shares of company stock worth $2,986,916. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKAM opened at $78.79 on Tuesday. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.51 and a twelve month high of $106.80. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.77 and a 200-day moving average of $89.10.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.12. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 12.65%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.