F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Hits New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• F5's stock reached a new 52-week high of $331.90 after reporting earnings per share of $4.16, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.49.
• Institutional investors significantly increased their holdings, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 34,698.9% in the first quarter, now owning 746,089 shares valued at $198.66 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on F5, with recent upgrades from Morgan Stanley and Needham & Company reflecting growing optimism about the company's future financial performance.

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $320.36 and last traded at $331.90, with a volume of 3568 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $298.99.

The network technology company reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.67. F5 had a net margin of 22.06% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The business had revenue of $780.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.36 earnings per share. F5's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FFIV. Barclays upped their price objective on F5 from $274.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of F5 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of F5 from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $304.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.89.

Insider Activity at F5

In other news, Director Elizabeth Buse sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.53, for a total transaction of $440,295.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,465.89. This trade represents a 23.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.69, for a total value of $364,669.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,843,678.11. The trade was a 11.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,872 shares of company stock valued at $1,702,309 over the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On F5

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 275.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 134.1% in the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 103 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of F5 by 275.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 105 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of F5 during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

F5 Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.03. The company's fifty day moving average is $294.53 and its 200-day moving average is $282.54.

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.