Morgan Stanley Raises F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Price Target to $230.00

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $230.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $185.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays increased their price target on F5 from $189.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on F5 from $167.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on F5 from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $233.56.

F5 Price Performance

FFIV opened at $232.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $214.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.96. F5 has a 1 year low of $149.40 and a 1 year high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that F5 will post 10.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network technology company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at F5

In other news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $273,107.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,359,543.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $273,107.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,359,543.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.67, for a total transaction of $130,602.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,492,007.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,700 shares of company stock worth $1,170,702. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F5

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of F5 by 6,700.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 848,388 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $146,118,000 after acquiring an additional 835,912 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in F5 during the third quarter worth about $61,386,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in F5 by 48.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 652,972 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $111,932,000 after buying an additional 214,351 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in F5 by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,709,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $294,392,000 after buying an additional 162,820 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of F5 by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 424,249 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $73,046,000 after buying an additional 141,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.66% 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.