Short Interest in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Grows By 14.0%

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,110,000 shares, an increase of 14.0% from the October 15th total of 7,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 6.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on AKAM shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. HSBC upgraded Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.47.

Akamai Technologies Trading Down 1.0 %

AKAM opened at $87.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.84 and its 200-day moving average is $96.73. Akamai Technologies has a 1-year low of $86.78 and a 1-year high of $129.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.63, for a total value of $354,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,686.89. This represents a 13.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 2,500 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.61, for a total transaction of $221,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 19,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,781.10. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,065,975 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKAM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,763,963 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,932,009,000 after acquiring an additional 124,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,197,009 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $423,066,000 after purchasing an additional 202,746 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Akamai Technologies by 1.3% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,131,061 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $191,966,000 after purchasing an additional 28,135 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 25.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,732,750 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $156,088,000 after purchasing an additional 347,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its holdings in shares of Akamai Technologies by 6.3% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,499,760 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $151,401,000 after purchasing an additional 88,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

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.