Akamai assumed with Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded Akamai (AKAM) to Underweight from Equal Weight with an $85 price target after assuming coverage of the name. The company’s sales growth will remain in the single-digits range with limited opportunities for margin expansion over the next 12 to 18 months, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes Akamai’s transition to becoming a public cloud provider will bring a host of near-term challenges, causing the shares to be a relative underperformer.