Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 41,780 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 26.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 199,246 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,780 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.35% of F5 worth $53,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in F5 by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 15.5% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of F5 in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the first quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 102.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

F5 Price Performance

NASDAQ FFIV traded up $1.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $302.17. 597,884 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,971. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.41. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $170.21 and a 1 year high of $313.00. The company has a market cap of $17.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.00.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $719.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price target on F5 from $296.00 to $274.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on F5 from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded F5 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $291.44.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, Director Elizabeth Buse sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.53, for a total value of $440,295.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,465.89. This trade represents a 23.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 1,347 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.03, for a total value of $362,383.41. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,660 shares in the company, valued at $5,558,159.80. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,519 shares of company stock valued at $2,408,594. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.