F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on F5 from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of F5 from $189.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of F5 from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $167.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $200.89.

F5 Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of FFIV stock opened at $192.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.08. F5 has a 12-month low of $145.45 and a 12-month high of $205.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $175.36 and a 200-day moving average of $179.97.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The network technology company reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.39. F5 had a return on equity of 21.03% and a net margin of 19.94%. The business had revenue of $695.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $686.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. F5’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that F5 will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scot Frazier Rogers sold 1,420 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.76, for a total transaction of $283,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,610,262.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Michael L. Dreyer sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.93, for a total transaction of $377,842.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,315.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scot Frazier Rogers sold 1,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.76, for a total value of $283,659.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,610,262.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,186 shares of company stock valued at $2,325,325. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,583 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,610,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in F5 by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,393 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in F5 by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,111 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of F5 by 56.4% in 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. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in F5 in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $544,000. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About F5

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.