Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,060 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 357 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in F5 were worth $894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in F5 by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in F5 by 2.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,030 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in F5 by 4.9% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in F5 by 6.3% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in F5 by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,231 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,862,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $201,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,159,066.55. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total transaction of $316,477.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,436,087.72. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,750 shares of company stock worth $799,229 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFIV opened at $239.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $224.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.05. F5, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.01 and a fifty-two week high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last announced 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. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 earnings per share. F5’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

F5 announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.56.

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.