Woodline Partners LP Acquires New Shares in F5, Inc. $FFIV

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has made a significant investment in F5, Inc. by acquiring 112,947 shares worth approximately $30 million, representing about 0.20% of the company.
• F5, Inc. has shown strong performance indicators, with a net income of $4.16 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.2%.
• Insider trading activity includes significant sales by executives, with one EVP selling over $1.7 million in stock, highlighting a potential shift in insider confidence regarding the company's shares.

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 112,947 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $30,074,000. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.20% of F5 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in F5 by 4,816.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,673 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $14,558,000 after buying an additional 53,561 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter worth $408,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter worth $333,000. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the 1st quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of F5 by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,805 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other F5 news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 5,297 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.24, for a total value of $1,706,905.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,601,963.84. This trade represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.14, for a total transaction of $400,582.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,942,545.42. The trade was a 1.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,945 shares of company stock worth $3,762,365. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FFIV shares. Barclays lifted their target price on F5 from $274.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on F5 from $304.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on F5 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on F5 from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, F5 has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.89.

F5 Stock Down 3.9%

FFIV traded down $12.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $321.67. 439,874 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 380,601. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day moving average is $310.97 and its 200 day moving average is $287.96. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $206.10 and a 12 month high of $337.39.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The network technology company reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $780.37 million for 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 business's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.36 EPS. F5 has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.240-15.380 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 3.870-3.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

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.