F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $260.00. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the stock. F5 traded as high as $309.47 and last traded at $286.70, with a volume of 40735 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $269.72.
Several other research firms also recently commented on FFIV. StockNews.com upgraded F5 from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.00.
Check Out Our Latest Report on F5
Insider Transactions at F5
In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,882 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,407.14. This represents a 7.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.45, for a total transaction of $221,639.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $538,876.50. The trade was a 29.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On F5
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of F5 by 65.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,219 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in F5 by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 45,848 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $7,896,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in F5 by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,994 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in F5 during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of F5 by 6.3% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,873 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
F5 Stock Down 1.4 %
The stock has a market cap of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $260.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.21.
F5 declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
About F5
(
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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.
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