Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $1.43 Million in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,483 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FFIV. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of F5 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in F5 during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in F5 in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in F5 by 9,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in F5 during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total transaction of $130,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,617,437.50. This trade represents a 1.93 % 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, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,475 shares of company stock valued at $977,039. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $233.56.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV opened at $251.92 on Wednesday. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.01 and a 1 year high of $252.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $227.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.05.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. F5 had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 20.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

F5 announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network technology company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.