Man Group plc Makes New Investment in F5, Inc. $FFIV

Key Points

• Man Group plc acquired 63,294 F5 shares worth approximately $26.3 million in the second quarter, joining other major institutional investors that have recently increased or initiated positions. Institutions collectively own 90.66% of F5.
• F5 reported quarterly revenue of $865.1 million and earnings of $4.73 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $834.6 million and $4.00, respectively. Revenue increased 10.9% year over year.
• F5 shares opened at $399.59, up 4.4%, while analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $416.62. Recent insider activity was predominantly selling, totaling 15,699 shares worth about $6.3 million over 90 days.

Man Group plc bought a new stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 63,294 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $26,328,000. Man Group plc owned 0.11% of F5 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in F5 during the second quarter worth about $2,611,637,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in F5 during the 4th quarter worth about $579,699,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in F5 by 15,103.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,170,216 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $298,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,519 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in F5 by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,753,652 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $702,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in F5 in the 4th quarter worth about $205,706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at F5

In other F5 news, Director Nikhil Ramesh Mehta sold 4,000 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.95, for a total transaction of $1,555,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,043 shares in the company, valued at $2,739,374.85. The trade was a 36.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Anthony Maddison sold 1,000 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.85, for a total transaction of $405,850.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $549,115.05. The trade was a 42.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 15,699 shares of company stock valued at $6,316,411 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

F5 Stock Up 4.4%

F5 stock opened at $399.59 on Thursday. F5, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.76 and a 52 week high of $435.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $403.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $350.72. The stock has a market cap of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.03.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The network technology company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.73. F5 had a return on equity of 21.54% and a net margin of 21.95%.The business had revenue of $865.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $834.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.16 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. F5 has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.260 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.210-17.330 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that F5, Inc. will post 13.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of F5 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $461.00 target price (up from $423.00) on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of F5 from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, F5 currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $416.62.

About F5

F5 Inc NASDAQ: FFIV specializes in application services and delivery networking, helping organizations ensure the availability, performance and security of their applications. The company's core offerings include advanced load balancing, traffic management and application security solutions designed to optimize user experiences and protect against threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and web application exploits.

At the heart of F5's product portfolio is the BIG-IP platform, which provides a suite of software modules for local and global traffic management, secure web application firewalling and DNS service delivery.

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