Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The stock had previously closed at $150.77, but opened at $142.76. Akamai Technologies shares last traded at $143.81, with a volume of 811,279 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Akamai Technologies from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Akamai Technologies from $110.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akamai Technologies

In other news, EVP Mani Sundaram sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.58, for a total transaction of $169,754.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,961.26. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jon Miller sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.67, for a total value of $1,129,370.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,341,492.02. This represents a 32.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,954 shares of company stock worth $5,511,371. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKAM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $192,959,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 522.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,020,346 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $153,061,000 after buying an additional 1,695,937 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 570.0% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,634,040 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $123,795,000 after buying an additional 1,390,167 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $104,700,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,752,000 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $589,112,000 after buying an additional 957,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Trading Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.33, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.61. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 10.20%.The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Akamai Technologies’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Akamai Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-7.150 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.450-1.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc is a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) services and cloud security solutions designed to optimize and safeguard digital experiences. Leveraging a globally distributed platform, the company accelerates web and mobile content delivery for enterprises, media companies, e-commerce platforms and government agencies. Its edge computing architecture brings processing power closer to end users, reducing latency and improving application performance across geographies.

The company’s core offerings include content acceleration, web and mobile performance optimization, media delivery, and a suite of cybersecurity solutions that protect against DDoS attacks, application-layer threats and bot-driven fraud.