J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Buys 2,129 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has increased its stake in F5, Inc. by 31.9% in Q1, now owning 8,806 shares valued at $2,345,000.
• F5 reported earnings per share of $4.16 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $3.49, with revenue rising 12.2% year-over-year.
• Institutional ownership of F5 currently stands at 90.66%, with various hedge funds adjusting their positions, including new stakes from Baker Avenue Asset Management LP and Banque Cantonale Vaudoise.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,806 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in F5 were worth $2,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of F5 by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

F5 Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $318.86. 86,299 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 550,394. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $295.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.32. F5, Inc. has a 52-week low of $185.74 and a 52-week high of $334.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.03.

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. F5 had a net margin of 22.06% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The company had revenue of $780.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.36 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 5,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,465.89. This represents a 23.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $400,582.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,153 shares in the company, valued at $33,942,545.42. This represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,172 shares of company stock valued at $2,102,891. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFIV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on F5 from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of F5 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on F5 from $274.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of F5 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $309.89.

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.