Telemark Asset Management LLC Takes Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Telemark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 60,000 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $13,212,000. F5 accounts for approximately 1.3% of Telemark Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Telemark Asset Management LLC owned 0.10% of F5 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of F5 during the second quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in F5 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 9,100.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in F5 during the third quarter worth $32,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at F5

In other F5 news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total value of $316,477.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,122 shares in the company, valued at $26,436,087.72. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $201,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,159,066.55. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,575 shares of company stock valued at $997,039. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

F5 Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of FFIV stock traded up $2.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $246.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 346,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 532,181. F5, Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.01 and a twelve month high of $250.46. The stock has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $225.85 and a 200-day moving average of $196.17.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. F5 had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 20.13%. The company had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. F5's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 announced that its board has initiated a share 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 usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FFIV shares. Barclays raised their target price on F5 from $214.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $233.56.

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.