Pinging Mac "computername" hits strange IP address
Akamai runs a content distributions system used by major websites to provide fast web response on a global scale. It is used by Apple, Adobe, Microsoft and many others. 

Port 443 is used for HTTPS - the encrypted version of HTTP web-page access.

It is quite normal to see a lot of traffic directed through Akamai.

iCloud content is stored on Akamai servers. Assuming you are using iCloud, e.g. to store Safari bookmarks, it is normal that opening Safari triggers a connection to Akamai since the actual content (= Safari bookmarks) is physically stored on Akamai distribution servers and needs to be synced when opening the browser.

More insight on it:


  On July 21, 1999, at Macworld Expo New York, Apple and Akamai
  announced a strategic partnership to build Apple's new media network,
  QuickTime TV (QTV), based on QuickTime Streaming Server.[32] Both
  companies later announced that Apple had made a $12.5 million
  investment in the company the previous month.[33] Apple continues to
  use Akamai as their primary content delivery network[34] for a wide
  range of applications including software downloads from Apple's
  Website, QuickTime movie trailers, and the iTunes Store.[35]


So to your question "is this possibly a symptom of having been compromised or virus/malware infected?" - I don't think it is compromised or infected by virus.