Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 51,024 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 56.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,066 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 51,024 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.24% of F5 worth $31,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 during the third quarter worth about $28,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in F5 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In other F5 news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.67, for a total value of $130,602.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total value of $316,477.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,436,087.72. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,250 shares of company stock worth $897,594. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

F5 Price Performance

NASDAQ FFIV traded down $3.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $238.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 491,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,844. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $222.72 and a 200 day moving average of $194.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.05. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $159.01 and a one year high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F5 announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FFIV. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.