Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Stock Jumps 7.6% – Should You Buy?

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) shares shot up 7.6% on Friday. The company traded as high as $106.25 and last traded at $108.5860. 2,274,220 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,648,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Akamai Technologies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Friday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Akamai Technologies from $143.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Akamai Technologies from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Akamai Technologies from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akamai Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.10.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.62.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Akamai Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Akamai Technologies has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.600-1.800 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-7.050 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 3,100 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $327,453.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,007,497.36. The trade was a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Mani Sundaram sold 7,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.62, for a total value of $882,103.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,837,192.50. This trade represents a 32.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,135 shares of company stock worth $1,467,221. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akamai Technologies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Akamai Technologies by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,464,793 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $397,881,000 after purchasing an additional 349,451 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the second quarter worth $222,046,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akamai Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth about $181,508,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $159,564,000. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Akamai Technologies by 8.3% in the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,300,000 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock valued at $149,305,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: AKAM) provides cloud computing, cybersecurity and content delivery services for businesses and public-sector organizations. Its distributed edge platform helps customers deliver websites, applications, media and other digital experiences while improving performance, availability and scalability.

The company’s services include web and application performance optimization, content delivery, cloud infrastructure, application and API security, distributed denial-of-service protection, zero-trust security and bot management.