Optimize Financial Inc Invests $2.18 Million in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,648 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,175,000. F5 comprises about 1.6% of Optimize Financial Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in F5 by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the 4th quarter worth $15,370,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in F5 by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 42,674 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $10,731,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in F5 by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 8,081 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in F5 by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 101,510 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,527,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFIV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on F5 from $310.00 to $269.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.67.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFIV traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $258.61. The stock had a trading volume of 405,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,519. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.14. F5, Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.01 and a 52 week high of $313.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $276.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.47.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,500 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.06, for a total value of $1,969,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,836,915.82. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.45, for a total value of $221,639.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,770 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,232 shares of company stock valued at $5,310,131. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.