F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with F5 receiving a consensus rating of "Hold" from 12 analysts. The average 12-month price target is about $316.44, with an even split between buy and hold views and two sell ratings.
• F5 reported strong quarterly results, beating both earnings and revenue estimates. The company also raised guidance for the next quarter and full year, signaling continued momentum in growth and profitability.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including the CFO and an EVP, though the trades were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. At the same time, institutional ownership remains high at 90.66%.

Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $316.4444.

FFIV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of F5 from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of F5 from $283.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of F5 in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded F5 from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Edward Cooper Werner sold 599 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.33, for a total value of $193,075.67. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,420,185.98. This represents a 11.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Angelique M. Okeke sold 842 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.33, for a total value of $271,401.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $680,116.30. The trade was a 28.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 24,688 shares of company stock valued at $7,477,392 over the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F5

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in F5 in the fourth quarter worth $579,699,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in F5 by 15,103.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,170,216 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $298,709,000 after buying an additional 1,162,519 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in F5 by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,753,652 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $702,897,000 after buying an additional 1,119,291 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in F5 during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,706,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in F5 by 175.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 958,947 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,781,000 after buying an additional 610,437 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about F5

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: F5’s latest quarter beat expectations, with revenue and EPS coming in above estimates and management raising guidance for the next quarter and full year. That supports the view that growth and profitability remain intact. F5 (FFIV) Reports Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: FFIV is trading close to its 52-week high and well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling strong momentum that may be drawing in traders and institutions. MarketBeat FFIV Quote
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insider sales were disclosed, including transactions by the CEO and an EVP, but at least some were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, which makes the signal less clear-cut for investors. CEO Form 4 (SEC)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales across senior executives, including the CEO, CFO, and EVPs, may create some caution around the stock, even if the trades were largely pre-scheduled. F5 Insider Sells $322,330.00

F5 Price Performance

FFIV opened at $354.03 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.00. F5 has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $354.52.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.43. F5 had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 21.96%.The business had revenue of $811.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $783.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. F5's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. F5 has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.910-4.030 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.250-16.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that F5 will post 12.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About F5

F5 Inc NASDAQ: FFIV specializes in application services and delivery networking, helping organizations ensure the availability, performance and security of their applications. The company's core offerings include advanced load balancing, traffic management and application security solutions designed to optimize user experiences and protect against threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and web application exploits.

At the heart of F5's product portfolio is the BIG-IP platform, which provides a suite of software modules for local and global traffic management, secure web application firewalling and DNS service delivery.

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