Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $19.78 Million Holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 246.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,839 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 63,871 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.15% of F5 worth $19,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FFIV. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in F5 during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of F5 during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of F5 by 9,100.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of F5 in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in F5 by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 241 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of FFIV opened at $250.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $229.41 and a 200 day moving average of $198.92. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.01 and a 12 month high of $252.30. The company has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.05.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. F5 had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 20.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

F5 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network technology company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $130,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,617,437.50. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $201,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,475 shares of company stock valued at $977,039. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIV has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, F5 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.56.

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.