F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in F5 were worth $900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of F5 by 79.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the third quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of F5 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of FFIV stock opened at $310.18 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.01 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.90. The firm has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.06.

F5 declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network technology company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total transaction of $75,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,452. This represents a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.06, for a total transaction of $1,969,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,247 shares in the company, valued at $45,836,915.82. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,399 shares of company stock valued at $3,652,867 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on FFIV. Barclays increased their target price on F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on F5 from $262.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, F5 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.00.

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.