Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Invests $6.28 Million in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 33,137 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,282,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of F5 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,145,302 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $204,986,000 after acquiring an additional 317,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in F5 in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,937,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in F5 by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,812,095 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $292,001,000 after purchasing an additional 212,784 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,435,868 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,330,872,000 after purchasing an additional 131,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. now owns 298,612 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $53,446,000 after buying an additional 125,635 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.85, for a total transaction of $273,832.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,002,118.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other F5 news, EVP Scot Frazier Rogers sold 3,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $558,444.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,283,790.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.85, for a total value of $273,832.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,801 shares in the company, valued at $23,002,118.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,266 shares of company stock worth $1,931,700 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

F5 Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of FFIV stock opened at $169.74 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.16 and a fifty-two week high of $199.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.42. The stock has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.09.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The network technology company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.03. F5 had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $681.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 9.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FFIV. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of F5 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on F5 from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on F5 from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of F5 from $204.00 to $182.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price objective (down from $187.00) on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.10.

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.