UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 63.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,068 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,679 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in F5 were worth $2,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in F5 during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in F5 in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in F5 during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of F5 by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 258 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV traded down $3.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $170.44. 513,768 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 478,972. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.10. The company has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. F5, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.45 and a 52-week high of $199.49.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The network technology company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.03. F5 had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $681.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of F5 from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on F5 from $206.00 to $189.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on F5 from $204.00 to $182.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $167.00 price target (down previously from $187.00) on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.53, for a total transaction of $142,568.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,597,385.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.53, for a total transaction of $142,568.03. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,597,385.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.11, for a total transaction of $243,759.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,906,495.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,766 shares of company stock valued at $1,990,890 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

F5 Company Profile

F5, Inc provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company's distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud.