F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Stake Boosted by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,040 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of F5 worth $13,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in F5 by 1,681.1% during 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 during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 3.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,489,388 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,208,763,000 after buying an additional 191,020 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in F5 during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,090,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of F5 by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573,995 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $345,560,000 after purchasing an additional 117,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of F5 by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,130 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $90,090,000 after purchasing an additional 81,005 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFIV traded down $9.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $295.56. The company had a trading volume of 467,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,104. The business has a 50 day moving average of $275.62 and a 200-day moving average of $240.71. The company has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.01 and a 1-year high of $313.00.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.06, for a total transaction of $1,969,890.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,836,915.82. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total value of $1,188,320.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at $7,915,557.12. The trade was a 13.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,574 shares of company stock worth $3,455,057. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FFIV shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of F5 from $262.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded F5 from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.00.

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.