IFP Advisors Inc Grows Stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,101 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in F5 were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 275.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 105 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in F5 during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of F5 by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Stock Performance

FFIV opened at $301.93 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $170.21 and a 1 year high of $313.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $590.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $719.91 million. F5 had a net margin of 21.14% and a return on equity of 21.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FFIV shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 price objective (up from $269.00) on shares of F5 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of F5 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on F5 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other F5 news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 1,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.03, for a total value of $362,383.41. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,558,159.80. This trade represents a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael L. Dreyer sold 1,800 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.96, for a total transaction of $514,728.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,360.96. This represents a 29.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,519 shares of company stock worth $2,408,594. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

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.