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

Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $104.00 to $100.00. The stock had previously closed at $109.59, but opened at $99.74. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Akamai Technologies shares last traded at $99.9190, with a volume of 2,558,836 shares traded.

AKAM has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Akamai Technologies to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their target price on Akamai Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Edward J. Mcgowan sold 6,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.03, for a total value of $577,476.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,447,389.26. This represents a 28.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Adam Karon sold 3,320 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $289,836.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $679,630.50. This represents a 29.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,318 shares of company stock worth $2,967,254. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Akamai Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting Akamai Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Akamai reported non-GAAP EPS $1.84 vs. $1.75 consensus and revenue $1.095B vs. ~$1.08B, showing 7% YoY revenue growth and margin improvement. MarketBeat Q4 Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Raised guidance — Akamai issued Q1 EPS guidance $1.50–$1.67 (vs. $1.49 consensus) and FY26 EPS $6.20–$7.20 (vs. $6.23 consensus); revenue guide of $4.4B–$4.6B tops street estimates. This underpins the near-term outlook. Reuters: Forecast Above Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/targets — KeyCorp raised its PT to $120 and kept an overweight rating; Susquehanna raised its PT to $120 with a positive rating — both imply ~9.5% upside from the recent quote. These upgrades add buying interest. Benzinga: Analyst Moves
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum — Cloud Infrastructure Services revenue jumped ~45% YoY in Q4 (full-year +36%), and security revenue also grew ~11% YoY, indicating product mix driving higher-growth areas. GlobeNewswire: Q4 & FY Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Deeper analysis/transcript available — Full earnings call transcript and analyst write‑ups provide detail for models and management commentary. Useful for investors evaluating sustainability of growth. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst & thematic coverage — Zacks and Investing.com pieces review metrics, estimates and questions about an AI pivot — good context but not new catalysts by themselves. Zacks Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP profit drop — GAAP net income per diluted share fell materially in Q4 (‑36% YoY) and full‑year GAAP EPS declined ~6% YoY, highlighting one-time items or non-cash impacts that make non‑GAAP beats less straightforward. Investors should monitor margins and GAAP reconciliation details. GlobeNewswire: Q4 & FY Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears inconsistent in filings (reported as zero/NaN) and shouldn’t be relied on until corrected; current days-to-cover metrics are meaningless.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AKAM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 101.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,087 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $266,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 73.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,134 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 3,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,011 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $14.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.50 and a 200-day moving average of $83.91.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.09. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 12.26%.The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Akamai Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.200-7.200 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.670 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Akamai Technologies Company Profile

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.