Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its stake in F5, Inc. by 659.3% during Q1, owning 316,992 shares valued at approximately $84.41 million at the end of the quarter.
• F5 reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) in its latest earnings results, surpassing the consensus estimate of $3.11 while achieving a revenue of $590.16 million, a 7.3% year-over-year increase.
• Currently, about 90.66% of F5's stock is held by institutional investors, and the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target of $291.44.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 659.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,992 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 275,244 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.55% of F5 worth $84,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in F5 by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,180 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter worth about $216,000. One Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter worth about $253,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter worth about $825,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in F5 by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 1,472 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFIV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $304.00 target price (up from $269.00) on shares of F5 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on F5 from $296.00 to $274.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on F5 from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $291.44.

F5 Stock Performance

FFIV traded down $2.84 on Tuesday, hitting $298.80. 143,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 534,944. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.41. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.80 and a 12 month high of $313.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.00.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.31. F5 had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 21.14%. The business had revenue of $590.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $719.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. F5's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.32, for a total value of $382,616.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,521,672. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.69, for a total value of $364,669.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,843,678.11. The trade was a 11.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,519 shares of company stock worth $2,408,594. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.