Chase Investment Counsel Corp Takes $4.73 Million Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 21,463 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,726,000. F5 comprises about 1.6% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FFIV. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in F5 in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of F5 during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in F5 in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in F5 during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of F5 by 9,100.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

F5 Stock Performance

F5 stock traded up $2.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $246.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 483,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,604. The company has a 50 day moving average of $220.16 and a 200-day moving average of $192.96. The stock has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.05. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $159.01 and a one year high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The business had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 10.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network technology company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In other news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total transaction of $98,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,123,221.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $201,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total value of $98,365.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,123,221.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,250 shares of company stock valued at $897,594 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FFIV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. Seven equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.