Swedbank AB Has $175.32 Million Holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 697,170 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 9,304 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 1.19% of F5 worth $175,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in F5 during the third quarter worth $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of F5 in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in F5 in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in F5 during the second quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of F5 by 79.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Stock Performance

Shares of FFIV traded up $21.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $291.03. 677,850 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 537,421. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.03. F5, Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.01 and a 52 week high of $308.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.06.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. F5’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

F5 announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network technology company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.77, for a total transaction of $197,810.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,407.14. This represents a 7.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on F5 from $262.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.38.

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.