F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $257.00 to $295.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the network technology company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 1.57% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, F5 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.13.

F5 Stock Performance

Shares of FFIV stock traded up $29.98 on Wednesday, reaching $299.70. 1,194,421 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 571,535. The company has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.06. F5 has a 12-month low of $159.01 and a 12-month high of $308.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $256.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.03.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.43 million. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. Research analysts predict that F5 will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network technology company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other F5 news, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.77, for a total value of $197,810.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,407.14. This trade represents a 7.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of F5 in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in F5 during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in F5 by 79.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Company 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.