BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 21,517 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 44.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,160 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 21,517 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.12% of F5 worth $12,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of F5 by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 1,150 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in F5 by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 518 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of F5 by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of F5 by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 10,457 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of F5 by 0.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,496 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,658,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

F5 Price Performance

FFIV traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $173.83. 511,624 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 473,948. The business's 50-day moving average price is $183.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.14. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.88 and a 1-year high of $199.49.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The network technology company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $681.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 17.91%. F5's revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.02, for a total value of $1,203,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,173,653.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 851 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.53, for a total transaction of $142,568.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,504 shares in the company, valued at $2,597,385.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,400 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.02, for a total value of $1,203,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,173,653.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,651 shares of company stock valued at $2,138,608 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FFIV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on F5 from $156.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on F5 from $186.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of F5 from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of F5 from $204.00 to $182.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $185.10.

F5 Company Profile

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.