Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $1.63 Million Stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 14.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in F5 were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FFIV. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of F5 by 424.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,604 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of F5 during the 1st quarter worth about $1,479,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in F5 by 60.7% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,083 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,239,000 after acquiring an additional 6,451 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in F5 by 3.9% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 308,159 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $53,247,000 after purchasing an additional 11,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 195.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,994 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 14,541 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F5 Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of F5 stock opened at $217.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.94 and a 200-day moving average of $187.56. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.45 and a 1-year high of $224.47.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The network technology company reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total transaction of $316,477.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,436,087.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other F5 news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total value of $316,477.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,436,087.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $130,500.00. Following 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,371 shares of company stock valued at $1,487,755. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $185.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of F5 from $189.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $204.56.

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.