New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $8.12 Million Holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 53.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 30,494 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 35,042 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of F5 worth $8,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 275.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 105 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Trading Up 0.6%

FFIV opened at $302.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.00. F5, Inc. has a 12-month low of $170.21 and a 12-month high of $313.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $290.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.41.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $590.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $719.91 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 21.14%. F5’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, Director Michael L. Dreyer sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.96, for a total value of $514,728.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,360.96. This represents a 29.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.32, for a total value of $382,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,100 shares in the company, valued at $31,521,672. The trade was a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,519 shares of company stock worth $2,408,594. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on FFIV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on F5 from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered F5 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $304.00 target price (up from $269.00) on shares of F5 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on F5 from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.44.

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.