BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 4,069 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 318,788 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 4,069 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.55% of F5 worth $70,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FFIV. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 6,700.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 848,388 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $146,118,000 after acquiring an additional 835,912 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,386,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 1,681.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 285,639 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $62,898,000 after purchasing an additional 269,602 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of F5 by 48.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 652,972 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $111,932,000 after buying an additional 214,351 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 10.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,709,296 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $294,392,000 after buying an additional 162,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFIV traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $246.98. 346,233 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 532,181. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $226.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. F5's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase 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.

Insider Activity

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 value of $201,650.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 in the company, valued at $26,436,087.72. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,575 shares of company stock worth $997,039. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFIV has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded F5 from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $233.56.

F5 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.