Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 44,622 Shares of F5, Inc. $FFIV

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 444,866 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,622 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in F5 were worth $197,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in F5 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,611,637,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in F5 by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 732,219 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $325,969,000 after buying an additional 141,131 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in F5 by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 726,844 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $302,338,000 after acquiring an additional 144,534 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in F5 by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 603,086 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $174,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in F5 in the 2nd quarter worth about $243,865,000. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, insider John Maddison sold 619 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.06, for a total transaction of $200,593.14. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $507,477.96. This trade represents a 28.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Angelique M. Okeke sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.06, for a total transaction of $326,328.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $927,459.72. This trade represents a 26.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,478 shares of company stock worth $9,077,136. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Key F5 News

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: F5’s board authorized a $1.5 billion share-repurchase program, which could support demand for shares. The company also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 13.2% year over year.
• Neutral Sentiment: An article noted recent options-market activity in FFIV but did not specify whether trading was bullish or bearish, so its significance is unclear. Do Options Traders Know Something About F5 Stock We Don’t?
• Negative Sentiment: Seven F5 executives and insiders sold roughly $7.2 million in shares in transactions dated November 3–4, including the CFO, CTOs and EVPs. The sales could create near-term concern, though they were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, which can reduce their significance as a signal about executives’ views of the company. Insider Selling: F5 CFO Sells Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FFIV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of F5 from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on F5 from $525.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of F5 in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on F5 from $415.00 to $448.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $443.00.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of F5 stock opened at $310.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.59. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.76 and a 1 year high of $483.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $421.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.03. The stock has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.07.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The network technology company reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.16. F5 had a net margin of 21.14% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The business had revenue of $917.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 14.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 27th that authorizes the company to buy back $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

F5 Company Profile

F5, Inc provides application delivery and security solutions that help organizations manage, protect and optimize applications across data centers, public clouds and edge environments. Its offerings serve businesses, government agencies and service providers around the world.

The company’s products and services include BIG-IP application delivery and security software, NGINX technologies for application development and delivery, and F5 Distributed Cloud Services. These offerings support functions such as traffic management, web and API protection, application security and multicloud connectivity.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Seattle, F5 was previously known as F5 Networks before adopting the F5 name in 2021.