Thomson Leighton, CEO at Akamai Technologies (AKAM), recently added 282 shares. The buy increased the CEO’s holdings by less than 1 percent, and came to a total price just over $25,000. The buy comes a week after the CEO bought 850 shares, paying just over $75,000 to do so.
This follows on a pattern of buys going back to December. Over the past year, company insiders have largely been sellers of shares, including both officers and directors.
Overall, company insiders own 1.5 percent of shares.
The cloud service content application provider is down about 20 percent over the past year. While revenues rose about 3 percent in the past year, total earnings slid nearly 40 percent.
Uncertainty over the economy and a slowdown in ad spending online may contribute to further weakness for the company operationally. However, the stock is now reasonably valued at about 15 times forward earnings.
Action to take: Investors may want to use a pullback in shares to the low $80 range as a long-term buying opportunity. The company has a reasonable long-term growth profile, despite the short-term economic headwinds right now.
For traders, the August $100 calls, last trading for about $5.05, offer mid-double-digit returns on a further move higher. Traders should look to buy calls on a down day for shares, and potentially look to take quick profits on a quick jump higher.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.