F5, Inc. $FFIV is Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC's Largest Position

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in F5, Inc. by 6.2% in Q1, making it the largest position in their portfolio with a valuation of $1.43 billion.
• Brokerages have diverse ratings for F5: Piper Sandler and JPMorgan gave it a "neutral" rating, while Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an "outperform" rating, and Needham & Company raised the target price to $345.
• F5 recently reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $3.49, and set FY 2025 guidance for 15.240-15.380 EPS.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,387,700 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 312,415 shares during the quarter. F5 comprises 4.8% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 9.38% of F5 worth $1,434,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FFIV. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of F5 by 134.1% during the first 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 boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in shares of F5 during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of F5 by 31.4% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

F5 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIV traded up $2.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $317.74. 249,634 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 539,821. The company has a market cap of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.03. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $197.34 and a one year high of $334.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $304.56 and a 200 day moving average of $286.65.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The network technology company reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $780.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.64 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 22.06%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.36 earnings per share. F5 has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.240-15.380 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 3.870-3.990 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on FFIV. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on F5 from $314.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on F5 from $274.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded F5 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on F5 from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, F5 presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.89.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, Director Elizabeth Buse sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.53, for a total transaction of $440,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,465.89. This represents a 23.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 1,347 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 20,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,411,101.27. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,744 shares of company stock worth $3,347,605 in the last three months. 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.