Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in F5, Inc. $FFIV

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its F5 stake by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 123,982 shares valued at about $31.8 million.
• F5’s latest earnings were better than expected, with revenue and EPS both beating estimates, and the company raised guidance for the next quarter and full year.
• Despite strong fundamentals and the stock trading near its 52-week high, there were several recent insider sales, including transactions by the CEO and a director, which may make some investors cautious.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,982 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,168 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.22% of F5 worth $31,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of F5 by 288.1% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in shares of F5 by 400.0% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 165 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,770 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.25, for a total value of $487,192.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,882,710. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 3,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.39, for a total value of $1,276,346.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 146,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,592,618.71. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,688 shares of company stock valued at $7,477,392. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

F5 News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: F5’s latest quarter beat expectations, with revenue and EPS coming in above estimates and management raising guidance for the next quarter and full year. That supports the view that growth and profitability remain intact. F5 (FFIV) Reports Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: FFIV is trading close to its 52-week high and well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling strong momentum that may be drawing in traders and institutions. MarketBeat FFIV Quote
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insider sales were disclosed, including transactions by the CEO and an EVP, but at least some were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, which makes the signal less clear-cut for investors. CEO Form 4 (SEC)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales across senior executives, including the CEO, CFO, and EVPs, may create some caution around the stock, even if the trades were largely pre-scheduled. F5 Insider Sells $322,330.00

F5 Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV opened at $354.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.01. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.76 and a 1-year high of $354.52. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.00.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.43. F5 had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 21.96%.The business had revenue of $811.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $783.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. F5's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. F5 has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.910-4.030 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.250-16.550 EPS. Analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 12.71 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on F5 from $283.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on F5 from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised F5 from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $316.44.

F5 Profile

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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