Donoghue Forlines LLC Takes Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Key Points

• Donoghue Forlines LLC has invested approximately $2.25 million in shares of F5, Inc., acquiring 8,462 shares as reported in a recent SEC filing.
• F5's recent earnings reported $4.16 EPS, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $780.37 million indicating a 12.2% growth year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on F5, with price targets ranging from $305 to $345, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $309.89.

Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,462 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,253,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5 during the 1st quarter worth about $469,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in F5 by 689.3% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 7,364 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,961,000 after buying an additional 6,431 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in F5 by 275.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 105 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in F5 during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,856,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $304.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $314.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.89.

F5 Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $325.64. 203,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 549,934. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $299.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.09. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.94 and a 12 month high of $334.00.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The network technology company reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $780.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.64 million. F5 had a net margin of 22.06% and a return on equity of 21.77%. F5's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at F5

In other news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 5,297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.24, for a total value of $1,706,905.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,601,963.84. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth Buse sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,465.89. This trade represents a 23.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,816 shares of company stock worth $4,227,002 in the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.