F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Acquired by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc significantly increased its stake in F5, Inc. by 689.3% in the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $1.96 million.
• F5, Inc. reported a quarterly EPS of $4.16, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $780.37 million, a 12.2% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have issued varying ratings on F5, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and price targets ranging from $309.89 to $355.00.

Vestcor Inc increased its position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 689.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,364 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,431 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in F5 were worth $1,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FFIV. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of F5 by 275.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 105 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter worth about $5,856,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in F5 in the first quarter worth about $240,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in F5 by 72.6% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in F5 during the first quarter worth approximately $231,000. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

F5 Stock Down 1.9%

FFIV stock traded down $5.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $307.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 790,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,142. F5, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.80 and a 52-week high of $334.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.54.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The network technology company reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $780.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.64 million. F5 had a net margin of 22.06% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The firm's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FFIV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on F5 from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on F5 from $314.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on F5 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on F5 from $304.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael L. Dreyer sold 1,800 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.96, for a total transaction of $514,728.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,360.96. This trade represents a 29.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.32, for a total transaction of $382,616.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,100 shares in the company, valued at $31,521,672. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,872 shares of company stock valued at $1,702,309 in the last 90 days. Company 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.