Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in F5, Inc. by 0.5%, owning 165,400 shares valued at approximately $44 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• F5 reported earnings of $4.16 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.67, with revenue of $780.37 million, a 12.2% increase from the previous year.
• Insider selling activity included Director Michael L. Dreyer offloading 1,800 shares, decreasing his ownership by 29.15% and EVP Thomas Dean Fountain selling 1,347 shares, reflecting a 6.11% decrease in ownership.

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,400 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of F5 worth $44,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in F5 by 134.1% during 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 increased its stake in shares of F5 by 275.0% during the first 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 during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in F5 in the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in F5 by 31.4% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of F5 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of F5 in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on F5 from $305.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on F5 from $274.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.89.

F5 Price Performance

NASDAQ FFIV traded down $3.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $315.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 327,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 583,240. F5, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.45 and a fifty-two week high of $334.00. The company has a market cap of $18.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $301.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.07.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The network technology company reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $780.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.36 EPS. Analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.14, for a total value of $400,582.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,153 shares in the company, valued at $33,942,545.42. This trade represents a 1.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Elizabeth Buse sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.53, for a total value of $440,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,465.89. This trade represents a 23.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,816 shares of company stock valued at $4,227,002. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.