Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $17.45 Million Stock Holdings in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,673 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after selling 9,248 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Akamai Technologies worth $17,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,544 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 838,541 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $99,241,000 after purchasing an additional 8,880 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Akamai Technologies by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 8,879 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,881,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction of $265,020.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 24,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,184,559.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $100,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,684,104.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.34, for a total transaction of $265,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 24,729 shares in the company, valued at $2,184,559.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,500 shares of company stock worth $617,475. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AKAM. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Akamai Technologies from $117.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Akamai Technologies from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.47.

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

NASDAQ AKAM opened at $100.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.67. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.59 and a 52 week high of $129.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.30.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 16.01% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $979.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $977.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Akamai Technologies’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Akamai Technologies announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 9th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology infrastructure company to reacquire up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Akamai Technologies Company Profile

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.