Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 332 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in F5 were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in F5 in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,726,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in F5 by 56.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 142,066 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,283,000 after acquiring an additional 51,024 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in F5 by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 147,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,559,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of F5 by 79.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of F5 by 1,681.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 285,639 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $62,898,000 after purchasing an additional 269,602 shares during the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $238.36 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.05. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.01 and a 1 year high of $250.46.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its quarterly 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. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 approved a share repurchase program on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network technology company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FFIV shares. StockNews.com upgraded F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $186.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, F5 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.56.

Insider Activity

In other F5 news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total transaction of $98,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,123,221.25. This trade represents a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total transaction of $316,477.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,436,087.72. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,250 shares of company stock valued at $897,594. Corporate insiders own 0.58% 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.