Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases New Stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. has acquired a new stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), purchasing 810 shares valued at approximately $216,000 during the 1st quarter.
• F5 reported earnings of $4.16 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.49, and showing a 12.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $780.37 million.
• Institutional investors hold 90.66% of F5's stock, with several firms, including Federated Hermes and Cerity Partners, significantly increasing their stakes in the company.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 810 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FFIV. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of F5 by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,383 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in F5 by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,179 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,765,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in F5 by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 11,470 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,884,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in F5 by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,635 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,423,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in F5 in the fourth quarter worth $16,623,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $321.77 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.31 and a 1 year high of $334.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $298.24 and a 200-day moving average of $284.40.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The network technology company reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.67. F5 had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 22.06%. The business had revenue of $780.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.36 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In related news, Director Michael L. Dreyer sold 1,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.96, for a total transaction of $514,728.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,251,360.96. This trade represents a 29.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 1,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.73, for a total value of $417,206.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,411,101.27. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,519 shares of company stock valued at $2,520,097. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FFIV shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on F5 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on F5 from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on F5 from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on F5 from $274.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.89.

F5 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.

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