Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $2.80 Million Stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,636 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 596 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in F5 were worth $2,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of F5 by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,984 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,724,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of F5 by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 12,001 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 2,057 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of F5 by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 164,967 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,526,000 after buying an additional 13,711 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $644,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $544,000. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFIV opened at $179.55 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $187.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.83. The stock has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. F5, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.93 and a fifty-two week high of $199.49.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The network technology company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.39. F5 had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $163.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $156.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $186.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.22.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.02, for a total value of $1,203,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,251 shares in the company, valued at $23,173,653.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.06, for a total value of $155,784.06. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,008 shares in the company, valued at $2,747,364.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.02, for a total transaction of $1,203,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,173,653.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,701 shares of company stock worth $1,818,660 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.