JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 81,005 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 409,130 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 81,005 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.70% of F5 worth $90,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in F5 by 9,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in F5 in the third quarter worth $32,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of F5 during the second quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of F5 in the second quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other F5 news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.67, for a total transaction of $130,602.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,007.75. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 9,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,407.14. The trade was a 7.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

F5 Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIV traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $254.36. The company had a trading volume of 410,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,117. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.01 and a 12 month high of $264.50. The stock has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.41.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FFIV shares. 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 report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on F5 from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $239.33.

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.