Akamai (AKAM) Shares Higher as SunTrust Highlights as Takeover Target

Shares of Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM) are up more than 5 percent Friday as an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey highlighted the stock as an "attractive" takeover target in a research note from this morning. The firm reiterated a Buy rating and $48 price target on AKAM shares.

The firm called Akamai a likely buyout candidate for large-scale technology and telecom vendors which need to quickly broaden operations into the cloud sector. With 60 percent of the company's sales coming from segments which did not even exist five years ago, SunTrust argues the Street isn't giving Akamai enough credit for its uncanny ability to adapt and lead in a very new market.

SunTrust called Akamai's balance sheet "pristine."

The firm's price target implies potential upside of about 40 percent.

Also notable Friday, Akamai's Chief Scientist Tom Leighton purchased 50,000 shares Thursday. The exec now holds more than 2.6 million shares of the company.

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