F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Upgraded 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 report issued on Tuesday morning.

FFIV has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, F5 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.56.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $232.20 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $214.78 and its 200 day moving average is $189.96. The firm has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.06. F5 has a 52-week low of $149.40 and a 52-week high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that F5 will post 10.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network technology company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $201,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of F5 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 $2,159,066.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $273,107.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,359,543.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,700 shares of company stock worth $1,170,702. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 36.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,324 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in F5 in the 1st quarter worth $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of F5 by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,362 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 84,242 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $14,602,000 after purchasing an additional 8,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of F5 by 28.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 89,906 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,045,000 after buying an additional 19,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.66% 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.