F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Position Trimmed by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 32.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,151 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 13,654 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in F5 were worth $6,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in F5 during the third quarter worth about $28,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of F5 during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of F5 in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in F5 by 9,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 184 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F5 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV opened at $246.98 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.01 and a 1 year high of $250.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $226.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.91.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. F5 had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 20.13%. The business had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F5 announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $201,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,159,066.55. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,450 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.26, for a total value of $316,477.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,122 shares in the company, valued at $26,436,087.72. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,575 shares of company stock valued at $997,039 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on FFIV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.56.

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.