Analysts Set F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) PT at $251.25

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $251.25.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FFIV shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on F5 from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

F5 Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of F5 stock opened at $267.74 on Friday. F5 has a 12-month low of $159.01 and a 12-month high of $267.96. The stock has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.63.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $0.22. F5 had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 20.13%. The business had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that F5 will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other F5 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,407.14. The trade was a 7.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of F5

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

F5 Company 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.