Acadian Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 486,260 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 139,474 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.83% of F5 worth $83,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Commerce Bank grew its position in F5 by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,912 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of F5 by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of F5 by 0.6% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,531 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in F5 by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,231 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,862,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 3.6% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFIV opened at $198.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.15 and a 200 day moving average of $181.89. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $145.45 and a one year high of $205.92. The firm has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The network technology company reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.39. F5 had a net margin of 19.94% and a return on equity of 21.03%. The firm had revenue of $695.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. F5’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that F5, Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of F5 from $189.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on F5 from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on F5 from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of F5 from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.89.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $85,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,373,360. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $85,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,373,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.71, for a total transaction of $163,996.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,083,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,555 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.