Hsbc Holdings PLC Boosts Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 49.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 424,249 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,040 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.72% of F5 worth $73,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in F5 by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,465,022 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,294,000 after acquiring an additional 29,154 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in F5 by 10.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,709,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $294,392,000 after acquiring an additional 162,820 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its position in F5 by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,145,302 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $204,986,000 after acquiring an additional 317,263 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in F5 by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,122,995 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $200,994,000 after acquiring an additional 6,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in F5 by 14.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 625,734 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $118,607,000 after acquiring an additional 77,611 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on F5 from $189.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target 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 cut F5 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on F5 from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.89.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.95, for a total transaction of $249,327.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,885,390.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.95, for a total transaction of $249,327.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,885,390.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $201,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,159,066.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,271 shares of company stock valued at $1,378,205. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

F5 Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $217.47 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.45 and a 12-month high of $218.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $192.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The network technology company reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.39. F5 had a return on equity of 21.03% and a net margin of 19.94%. The firm had revenue of $695.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $686.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.