F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,577 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in F5 were worth $1,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of F5 during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of F5 in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of F5 by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $84,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFIV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on F5 from $262.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.00.

F5 Trading Up 0.6 %

FFIV opened at $308.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.01 and a 1 year high of $310.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.01.

F5 declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at $7,915,557.12. This represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $59,452. The trade was a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,899 shares of company stock valued at $1,682,977 over the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.