Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 2,980 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,242 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,980 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in F5 were worth $6,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FFIV. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in F5 during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in F5 during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in F5 by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 241 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

F5 Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of F5 stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $261.81. The stock had a trading volume of 564,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,335. The company has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.01 and a 52 week high of $264.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.69.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network technology company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In related news, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 7.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $130,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,617,437.50. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,475 shares of company stock worth $775,389. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FFIV shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised F5 from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $233.56.

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.