JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Price Target to $250.00

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) had its price objective lifted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the network technology company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of F5 from $185.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded F5 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on F5 from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $233.56.

F5 Stock Down 0.6 %

FFIV stock opened at $238.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06. F5 has a twelve month low of $149.40 and a twelve month high of $250.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.31.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.03% and a net margin of 19.94%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that F5 will post 10.17 EPS for the current year.

F5 declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.67, for a total value of $130,602.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,007.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.67, for a total transaction of $130,602.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,825 shares in the company, valued at $6,492,007.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $273,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,359,543.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,551 shares of company stock worth $1,334,698 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On F5

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in F5 by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,324 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter worth about $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in F5 by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,362 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in F5 by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 84,242 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $14,602,000 after buying an additional 8,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 28.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 89,906 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,045,000 after buying an additional 19,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

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.