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

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large 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. Approximately 6.1% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,520,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised Akamai Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Akamai Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $128.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.47.

Akamai Technologies Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AKAM traded down $0.92 on Friday, hitting $87.43. The stock had a trading volume of 2,616,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,664,409. Akamai Technologies has a 1 year low of $86.78 and a 1 year high of $129.17. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $99.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AKAM. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,724 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Akamai Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 200,458 shares of the technology infrastructure company's stock valued at $20,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Akamai Technologies by 17.4% during the first 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 period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the first quarter worth $1,093,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the first quarter valued at $2,610,000. 94.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.