F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,891 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in F5 were worth $37,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in F5 in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in F5 in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in F5 by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in F5 in the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in F5 by 156.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 617 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,452. This trade represents a 55.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.45, for a total transaction of $221,639.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,770 shares in the company, valued at $538,876.50. The trade was a 29.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,899 shares of company stock worth $1,682,977 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of FFIV stock opened at $308.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.01 and a 1-year high of $310.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.93.

F5 declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FFIV shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.