F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $313.00 and last traded at $307.59, with a volume of 611066 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $310.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.00.

F5 Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $273.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.01.

F5 announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in 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 usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.06, for a total value of $1,969,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,836,915.82. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total transaction of $75,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,452. The trade was a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,574 shares of company stock worth $3,455,057. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in F5 during the fourth quarter worth about $606,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 650,992 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $163,705,000 after acquiring an additional 116,785 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of F5 by 951.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,651 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,496 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.