F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• F5 shares hit a new 52-week high, reaching $451.02 and recently trading near $450, up 4.2%. The stock’s average analyst rating remains “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $416.62.
• F5 reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.73 versus the $4.00 consensus and revenue of $865.08 million, up 10.9% year over year and above expectations.
• Insiders have recently sold shares, including the CEO’s $1.56 million transaction, while institutional investors collectively own a substantial 90.66% of the company.

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $451.02 and last traded at $450.10, with a volume of 682550 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $432.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FFIV. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of F5 from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research cut F5 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $461.00 price target (up from $423.00) on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of F5 from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $416.62.

F5 Stock Up 4.2%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $404.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $367.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.03.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The network technology company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.73. F5 had a return on equity of 21.54% and a net margin of 21.95%.The company had revenue of $865.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.16 EPS. F5's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. F5 has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.260 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.210-17.330 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 13.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 3,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.44, for a total value of $1,559,848.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 146,989 shares in the company, valued at $60,624,143.16. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Maddison sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.85, for a total transaction of $405,850.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $549,115.05. This trade represents a 42.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 16,829 shares of company stock valued at $6,815,302 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F5

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of F5 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 109.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 963.6% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 117 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in F5 by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 124 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in F5 during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.66% of the company's stock.

About F5

F5, Inc is a technology company that provides application delivery, security and traffic-management solutions for enterprises, service providers and government organizations. Its offerings are designed to help customers ensure the availability, performance and security of applications across on-premises data centers, public clouds and edge environments.

The company's portfolio includes BIG-IP software and appliances, NGINX application delivery and web server technologies, and F5 Distributed Cloud Services.

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