F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Sold by Penserra Capital Management LLC

Penserra Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288,514 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 84,843 shares during the quarter. F5 comprises about 1.4% of Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Penserra Capital Management LLC owned about 0.50% of F5 worth $63,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in F5 by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,709,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $294,392,000 after buying an additional 162,820 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of F5 by 6,700.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 848,388 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $146,118,000 after acquiring an additional 835,912 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 48.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 652,972 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $111,932,000 after acquiring an additional 214,351 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in F5 by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 598,605 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $103,096,000 after purchasing an additional 48,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in F5 by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 523,982 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $90,245,000 after purchasing an additional 45,843 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Stock Performance

FFIV opened at $246.98 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $159.01 and a one year high of $250.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.91.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. F5’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network technology company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FFIV shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, F5 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.56.

Insider Activity at F5

In other 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 value of $130,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,617,437.50. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $201,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,575 shares of company stock worth $997,039 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

F5 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.