Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) by 170.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 306 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Akamai Technologies were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Akamai Technologies by 19.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 41,034 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $4,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 131.6% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 19,433 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 11,044 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 190.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,579 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $8,708,000 after acquiring an additional 48,236 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 480,908 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $56,915,000 after acquiring an additional 15,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $3,245,000. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Anthony P. Williams sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.58, for a total value of $467,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,938 shares in the company, valued at $929,998.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Anthony P. Williams sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.58, for a total value of $467,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,938 shares in the company, valued at $929,998.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William Raymond Wagner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.54, for a total value of $93,540.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,107.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,000 shares of company stock worth $826,460 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Akamai Technologies from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Craig Hallum dropped their target price on Akamai Technologies from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Akamai Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Akamai Technologies from $115.00 to $92.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Akamai Technologies in a report on Monday, July 8th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued 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 $114.44.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

AKAM stock traded up $1.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.10. The stock had a trading volume of 232,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,645,711. Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.59 and a 52 week high of $129.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $92.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.67.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $986.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $989.03 million. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 16.12%. Akamai Technologies’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Akamai Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 9th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology infrastructure company to repurchase up to 13.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.