Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Stock Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,510 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in F5 were worth $6,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FFIV. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in F5 in the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,485 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in F5 during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,428,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new position in F5 during the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in F5 by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:FFIV traded down $2.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $270.08. 356,133 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 540,255. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.01 and a 1-year high of $313.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $284.79 and a 200 day moving average of $253.79.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $59,452. The trade was a 55.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $538,876.50. The trade was a 29.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,932 shares of company stock worth $4,965,150. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FFIV. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $295.00.

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.