Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in F5 were worth $1,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,726,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of F5 by 56.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 142,066 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,283,000 after purchasing an additional 51,024 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of F5 by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 147,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,559,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of F5 by 79.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of F5 by 1,681.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 285,639 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $62,898,000 after purchasing an additional 269,602 shares during the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.67, for a total transaction of $130,602.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,492,007.75. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $201,650.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,159,066.55. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,750 shares of company stock valued at $799,229. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on FFIV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $233.56.

F5 Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of FFIV opened at $239.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $223.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.99. F5, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.01 and a fifty-two week high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $0.22. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The business had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

F5 announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.