Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) Short Interest Up 14.0% in October

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

Akamai Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKAM opened at $87.43 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.84 and its two-hundred day simple 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 at Akamai Technologies

In other news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.30, for a total value of $389,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,401.90. This represents a 11.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $100,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,684,104.87. This represents a 5.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,500 shares of company stock worth $1,065,975 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Akamai Technologies by 9.6% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Akamai Technologies by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 31,917 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $3,471,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 185,101 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $20,132,000 after purchasing an additional 27,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Akamai Technologies by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 250,745 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $27,324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares during the period. 94.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.47.

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.