Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in F5 were worth $1,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,900 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,747,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 1,175.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 17,734 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after buying an additional 16,344 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of F5 by 783.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 318 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5 in the fourth quarter worth $1,718,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in F5 by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 573 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In related news, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,452. This trade represents a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total transaction of $1,188,320.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,915,557.12. The trade was a 13.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,574 shares of company stock worth $3,455,057 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFIV has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.00.

F5 Stock Up 0.8 %

FFIV stock opened at $309.93 on Thursday. F5, Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.01 and a twelve month high of $313.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.51.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.