Neuberger Berman Group LLC Buys 3,305 Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 69.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,081 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,305 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in F5 were worth $2,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in F5 by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 101,510 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,527,000 after acquiring an additional 8,020 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of F5 by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 22,609 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,685,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of F5 in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in F5 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,623,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in F5 by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 116,581 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,312,000 after buying an additional 30,656 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on F5 from $304.00 to $262.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $285.78.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.45, for a total transaction of $221,639.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $538,876.50. This represents a 29.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total value of $1,188,320.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,915,557.12. This represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,232 shares of company stock valued at $5,310,131. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

F5 Trading Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ FFIV opened at $261.68 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.01 and a 12 month high of $313.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $278.77 and its 200 day moving average is $257.87. The stock has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.14.

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.