Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 63,871 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) by 246.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,839 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,871 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.15% of F5 worth $19,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in F5 in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of F5 during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of F5 by 9,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in F5 by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 241 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company's stock.

F5 Stock Up 0.1 %

FFIV traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $250.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 294,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 533,284. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $230.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.47. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.05. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $159.01 and a one year high of $252.30.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $730.43 million. F5 had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 20.13%. F5's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $233.56.

Insider Activity at F5

In other F5 news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total transaction of $316,477.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,122 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,436,087.72. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $130,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,617,437.50. This represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,475 shares of company stock worth $977,039. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.