F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Stock Position Increased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 177.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,748 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 26,696 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in F5 were worth $10,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

F5 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $269.72 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $256.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $159.01 and a one year high of $274.64.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In related news, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.77, for a total transaction of $197,810.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,407.14. The trade was a 7.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on F5 from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on F5 from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, F5 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $251.25.

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.