Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 66,105 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,623,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.11% of F5 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FFIV. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in F5 in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 1.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 144,572 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5 in the third quarter worth $1,531,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in F5 during the 3rd quarter valued at $192,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in F5 by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,825 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,824,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,452. This represents a 55.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total value of $1,188,320.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,915,557.12. This represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,232 shares of company stock worth $5,310,131. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

F5 Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $258.61 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $274.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.57. The company has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.14. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.01 and a 1-year high of $313.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of F5 from $304.00 to $262.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.67.

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.