Greenleaf Trust Buys 59 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,091 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in F5 were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of F5 during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in F5 during the 3rd quarter valued at $84,000. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total transaction of $1,188,320.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at $7,915,557.12. This trade represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,452. The trade was a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,899 shares of company stock worth $1,682,977 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

F5 Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of F5 stock opened at $303.32 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.77. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.01 and a 12 month high of $308.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.06.

F5 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of F5 from $262.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.00.

About F5

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.